Hibari and the Little Swan Prince
by chazsvp2
Summary: 1827 Fairytale, in which Hibari is a prince, Mukuro an evil wizard and Tsuna is under a spell. To break it, one must make a vow of true love to him, and mean it. Otherwise, the little Vongola prince will die...
1. Prologue

**Hibari and the Little Swan Prince  
**a 1827 fairytale story of love by chazsvp

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**Prologue**

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In the kingdom of Vongola lived King Iemitsu, who had no children. This made him quite depressed, as the king had always dearly hoped for a cute little daughter to dote upon.

Then, one day, twins are born! And he called them Kyoko and Tsunayoshi.

The whole kingdom was so happy to finally have a couple of young majesties to look up to and take care of. King Iemitsu held a huge celebration, where lords and ladies from across the kingdom were to attend, and the royal family from the neighboring kingdom, also.

Queen Nana of the Namimori kingdom had a son and had recently had a daughter. She called them Hibari and Haru, and they took it in turns to greet the little prince Tsuna and princess Kyoko during the ceremony.

As four-year-old Hibari approached the two cradles,he first looked at the fat little baby sleeping with a pink blanket, his future wife (though he didn't know it yet). He then looked down at the fat little baby with a blue blanket, his future brother-in-law.

He bent down over the cradle of the boy awake, and everyone in the hall 'awwed' and sighed with delight, as they saw the little prince move to kiss the little baby boy. How sweet! What a charming little prince, they thought!

If they knew the truth of it, they would have been greatly disturbed; for this was the first time Tsunayoshi set his big brown eyes on Hibari, and these were the first words he would hear from this future: "I will bite you death," muttered the dark haired prince into his little ear. He pulled away from the baby with narrow eyes, glaring at him.

Baby Tsuna stared in the face of death itself, open-mouthed and wide-eyed and paralyzed with fear. Hibari waited patiently for the reaction of his very first bit of prey. And Baby Tsuna saw he wasn't going to bite him after all, and quite suddenly, giggles echoed through the hall.

Then shrieks of laughter, followed by wild waving of stubby little arms and random kicking of stubby little legs. Next to him his sister Kyoko woke up and began to whimper, and when Hibari glanced at Kyoko with his darkened expression (how dare that baby mock me!), she too erupted into wailing noises, though hers were in fear rather than amusement, and she cried louder than her baby brother could laugh.

And as Queen Nana went to move Hibari away from the cradle so that King Iemitsu and the royal nannies could see to his daughter, baby Haru woke up and started screaming from the arms of the Queen. And when baby Tsuna realized that Death had gone, he too was caught up in the moment and dissolved into wails and tears that filled the massive hall containing a lot of bewildered looking guests.

And this was the first meeting of the little prince and princess', that only Hibari would have a vague memory of.

And this is the start of their fairy tale: Hibari and the Little Swan Prince.

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**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own any of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn characters nor the basic plot, taken from the The Swan Princess._

I just wanted a sweet KHR fairy tale to coo over, and mixed my favourate childhood fairy tail with the most beautiful boys in the Mafia as a result x)

I hope you will enjoy their funny love story!


	2. Ugly Duckling

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**Chapter 1: An Ugly Duckling**

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It was the wish for the King and Queen of these two kingdoms for their sons and daughters to marry the other kingdoms sons and daughters respectively. Before Queen Nana bid farewell to the Vongola kingdom and it's King, they made a deal. "Every June through to September, we shall take it in turns to visit each others kingdoms." From the distant wails that could still be heard from the awaiting carriages and the castle, Queen Nana added, "in six years time from now, perhaps, when they are ready?"

King Iemitsu laughed, this Queen whom he had never even met before was very charming, "what a good idea, Queen Nana! Of course, then six years from now we shall meet again, at your castle?"

"I look forward to it!" Nana giggled in a very un-Queen like manner. She held out her white gloved hand and King Iemitsu took it and kissed it gently, making the Queen blush as she bid her farewells.

He watched by the gates and waved them off.

"That was a good decision, your majesty." Said a smooth voice behind him. Iemitsu smiled.

"How many times must I tell you to just call me Iemitsu when no one else is around, Reborn?" He turned to greet the young man with curly side burns, "after all, you are my most trusted advisor."

"Now the two kingdoms will be joined in not one, but two matrimonies." Reborn continued, as though the King hadn't said anything. "She is a good Queen, and her kingdom is strong. You have assured a bright future for your children, your majesty."

"Thank-you, Reborn. In gratitude for your comment, please just call me Iemitsu from now on."

"No, your majesty."

Iemitsu laughed and slapped Reborn on the back in a friendly gesture that would have sent the man flying had he not been used to it. He retreated back into the castle with his arm swung around Reborn's neck, until Reborn threatened to break it for him, at which point the King's bellowing laughter resounded throughout the castle even harder.

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It may be necessary at this point to give a brief overlay of the two kingdoms. To the West, the Vongola kingdom, and to the East, Namimori. Between them lay the Kuroyo Forest and Lake, and hidden in it's darkest depths lay the dilapidated castle of Lord Rokudo Mukuro, who was banished from the Vongola kingdom for trying to take over the kingdom with wizard craft and devilry years ago, and who had vowed for revenge on the king from that day forth.

However, over time and due to the birth of new royalty's, his words were completely forgotten, as were the dangers that they entailed.

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"Go on, Prince Hibari, don't be shy. You have to set a good example for your sister..."

"Tsuna, Kyoko, remember your manners." Iemitsu whispered, and straightened up greet Queen Nana. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Nana. You look as beautiful as ever."

"Oh, my, Iemitsu! Why thank-you," she blushed, "you haven't changed at all either. How wonderful to see you again! And you too, Prince Tsunayoshi, Princess Kyoko. How do you do?"

"How do you do, your majesty." they bowed/curtsied in unison. Nana squeaked in delight and demanded that they just call her 'Nana'.

"Hibari, Haru, go on..." she nudged excitedly, and Hibari drudgingly stepped forward to welcome the little girl in a pink and white dress, while Haru skipped up to greet the cute little boy in his little prince outfit and cloak. Tsuna and Kyoko walked forward too and stopped half way, facing the other pair.

"Hello princess Kyoko/Haru, I'm very pleased to meet you." bowed the princes's

"Pleased to meet you too, prince Hibari/Tsunayoshi-" curtsied the girls, but when Haru looked up she only saw the back of her prince as he suddenly darted back to behind his fathers legs.

"Ah, Tsuna! Manners!" The King said in a stern voice. Tsuna cringed, then slowly walked back to hold up his princess' hand in his own. He held it to his face, hesitating over it for a moment, then darted a quick peck to the back of it before retreating once again. Haru stared at him for a moment, then wiped the back of her hand on the front of her dress at the insult.

"Haru!" scolded the Queen, "Tsunayoshi!" warned the King.

Hibari kissed Kyoko's hand in greeting also before calmly walking up to the cowarding prince, holding out his hand in a gesture of friendship. Tsuna looked at it in consideration before hesitantly taking it slowly, calming down when nothing happened but the gentle bobbing of the hands in place. Then: "Welcome to my kingdom, Herbivore." growled the older boy in a sinister voice, looking down at the 6-year-old Tsuna with narrowed eyes and a firm grasp on his little hand.

"Ahh! Papa!" Tsuna cried, yanking his hand from the hand shake and running for the carriage.

"Tsu-kun! Wait!" Kyoko cried, not wanting to chase after him in her dress...

"Come back, you coward!" Haru yelled over her, hitching up her dress and giving chase him as if with intentions of tackling him to the ground.

"Aw, look. They're already playing nicely," said Queen Nana obliviously, "I think they'll get on splendidly. Shall I give you a tour of the castle first, or perhaps you're a bit hungry?"

"A tour would be wonderful." sighed the King, and he held out his arm for the Queen of another kingdom to place her hand on.

"And tomorrow, a tour of the kingdom...and then..." the cheerful voice of Hibari's mother faded as she retreated with the other man. The man that was not his father, but a king like his father, and flirting with his mother.

Hibari did not like that man. The next king of this kingdom would be him, and he would bring about order and discipline. His sister was still chasing the herbivore that that King had brought...no, he amended, shielding his eyes from the glow of the sun to see them. Haru had caught him, was sitting on his chest in the grass as the servants watched in amusement or worry...

Weak. Pathetic – was that boy supposed to be king of his own country one day? Impossible. That boy was the worst. Not a drop of discipline in his little body what-so-ever. At least, sighed Hibari, he had grown accustomed to his sisters undisciplined behavior over the years, otherwise he'd feel compelled to bite her to death, too.

His sister would never marry that man. Hibari knew that that was what this meeting was all about, and he would never approve. As for his own candidate...

He glanced around for her, Princess Kyoko, and found her still standing lovely and perfectly composed while watching the others. She was indeed very cute in her white summer dress, her hair falling just above her shoulders, and she was smiling a little.

"Is princess Haru always so energetic?" said the little girl suddenly. Hibari nodded without a word. Kyoko suddenly looked apprehensive,"she won't...hurt my brother, will she?"

"They're the same age. They are evenly matched. If she bites him to death, it would only be due to his own weakness." said Hibari coldly.

"B-bite? She _bites _people_?!" _Kyoko cried, looking up at Hibari with alarm. Hibari merely shrugged, and watched as Tsuna managed to scramble away from his harasser and then trip on his cape. Haru dived on him, erupting a cry and a whimpering from the boy to start up on the field.

"Tsu-kun!" Kyoko ran forward along with a dozen servants to comfort the crying boy lying in the dirt, the princess standing triumphant.

Hibari couldn't take any more of this. "Pa-the-tic." He muttered, and turned on his heel back to the castle. He would rather train than waste time with this bunch of herbivores. Perhaps Lord Dino would still be around after their morning session...he hated getting beaten so easily by that man, but his time would come. And when it did, he would become a most fearsome king of Namimori.

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"They are both devils!" Shrieked the little prince, holding a cold bit of clothe to his grazed knee. "The girl tried to kill me! And her brother called me a hermivoi! I don't even know what a hermivoi is! Do you know what a hermivoi is?"

"You must mean herbivore, Prince Tsunayoshi. It is his favorite thing to say, and it refers to the term of a plant-eating creature rather than a carnivore that will eat only living creatures – a meat-eater."

"That makes no sense! I eat meat too!" Tsuna whined, making the servant chuckle in amusement at the pitch of his whine. This was the first time they had had royal guests to take care of, and the very first time they were to care for children other than the cold, fearsome Hibari and the exciteful Haru. It was a nice change, and the twins were delightful!

"It's okay, Tsu-kun. She didn't bite you, did she?" his sister said, sitting next to him and holding his hand kindly. The prince shook his head and looked under the clothe to see the damage. It wasn't even bleeding...just red and sore looking.

"See what she did? She is a devil!" he cried, and Kyoko bent over his knee and kissed it gently. "Better?" she said brightly.

"Yes" Tsuna grumbled, and he seemed to calm down after that. "Kyoko, where did Papa go?"

"He's gone for a tour of the castle," said the servant, "would you like one too?"

"Yes please, if you would be so kind." Kyoko and Tsuna said at the same time, and got off the arm chair they were sharing at the same time, still holding hands.

The servant and four busy maids passing by blinked at the pair. There was certainly beauty in symmetry. "CUUUUTTEE!" They squealed, and had to suppress strong urges to hug and squeeze them both until they turned a royal purple.

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Haru was upset. She had been sent to her room for 'being too wild' with the Vongola prince. She had done nothing wrong! She had been so excited to be meeting other royalties to play with, and the twins had looked so cute! She immediately liked them both, especially the little boy – he was so small, even with his with his big hair and eyes! Haru was taller than that boy! But, then he ran away from her when she was greeting him. That was so rude! And worse, he ran away from even her brother! Unforgivable!

Haru would only ever love strong and kind men. For that is what it meant to be a king! Isn't that what Mama had said? Haru hugged the huge royal teddy bear while sitting on her pink princess sized bed in her large royal pink bedroom. Sad, because her hair had come loose all about her face. Sad, because she had got dirt on the hem of her pastel green summer dress. Sad, because she didn't have anyone to play with today after all.

But wait, wasn't she forgetting the other twin? The girl! She had yet to speak with the girl!

"Princess Kyoko!" Haru cried suddenly, making the maid standing outside her door jump at the shrill cry. "Princess Kyoookooo!" Haru called again, and she grabbed one of the little white bunnies pilled up on her bed by her pillow to give as a gift. She ran out of her room to try and find her friend, all the while sending her call echoing through the castle: "PRINCESS KYOOOOKOOOO!"

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"Ignore them." Hibari hissed in a dark voice, "pay attention to me or I will bite you to death."

"Hey now, Hibari! There is no need for that, is there?" laughed Dino, easily dodging the wooden sword swing aiming for his left side. "Isn't that-" dodge, "-the little royalties from-" dodge SWISH dodge, "-the Vongola kingdom?" Finally Dino used his own wooden sword to block and parry Hibari's sword away from them, sending it flying and instantly bringing the tip of his sword to the young boys neck. "Don't you want to say hello?"

"I don't speak to weaklings." Hibari growled, stepping back from the sword to retrieve his own several feet away. "I will train."

Dino scratched his head and sighed. What a strange kid...wouldn't he rather play with kids closer to his own age than train like this? He wasn't going easy on the kid, after all. He'd be able to tell if he went easy on him, and then he wouldn't be satisfied.

"Forgive me, your highness, but I'm going to go say hello to them. This is the first time I've seen them since they were only babies, after all..." Dino walked past Hibari standing ready for another fight towards the servant holding hands with the twin majesties and grinned. How cute they were! "Hello, Prince Tsuna, Princess Kyoko. Wow, you've grown a lot! I feel old!" he laughed, and bent down so that he was on eye level with them. "but then, you probably don't remember me. I'm Lord Dino, but please just call me Dino." He held out his hand to Tsuna. "Pleased to meet you."

"P-pleased to meet you, Dino." Tsuna muttered, shaking his hand nervously. Though Dino seemed nice enough to Tsuna, he had fought Hibari without holding back. What man doesn't hold back even for a kid! This man was a devil!

"Pleased to meet you too, Dino!" Kyoko beamed, and smiled as Dino kissed the back of her hand. "You are very strong." She commented, "you fight almost as well as my father."

"Ah, as well as King Iemitsu? You really think so? You are very kind, princess! Though I doubt I could ever be on par with a King, an old Lord like me!"

"You are barely 17 years of age, Lord Dino. I doubt that qualifies as being 'old' quite yet."

"Ahaha, I guess so...but don't you feel old amongst all this young ones? They grow up so quickly, too!"

"Yes, I agree with you, but Dino I think you better get back to your training with his highness, he is already getting impatient."

Dino glanced back at Hibari still standing alone in the training area, glaring at him. His aura was like a dark cloud creeping towards him in ominous tentacles. Dino laughed. "Why don't you go get some water or something, Prince Hibari? Or better yet...hey!" Dino turned back to Tsuna, "would you like to spar with Hibari for a bit, Prince Tsuna?"

Tsuna looked up at him as though he'd suddenly grown a second head. "It'll be fun!" Dino added cheerfully.

"No way! He will kill me for sure!" Tsuna shrieked, backing away from this crazy man who wanted him dead.

"Don't be silly, your highness! The swords are made of wood, see? The worst he could do is break bones."

"Eh?! That's even worse! That would hurt!"

"Ahaha, it's not that bad, Prince Tsuna! I've broken plenty of bones before – it only hurts a little! Look, this is the scar Hibari gave me when he was your age..." he held up his left forearm.

"Ah! I don't want to see it! I don't want to fight him!"

"Really? You don't?" _Man, these two are totally different, _thought Dino_, _surprised. _I thought all boys loved to spar...perhaps he is just afraid of fighting Hibari? He is a scary opponent, after all...and is a little older than Tsuna... "_Okay, then how about you spar with me instead? I'll go easy on you if this is your first time."

"It's...my first time. But, I am probably not very good at it!"

"That's not a problem, Tsuna! Everyone has to start somewhere, and I'm sure you are a natural! You are a future King, after all!"

"I...I..." _I don't want to! _Thought Tsuna, but he was already being guided away from his sister and the nice servant that had been showing them around.

"Come one, let's get you some protective gear on." Cheered Dino, and Tsuna could only think that he didn't want to spar with anyone! He tried to turn around to escape...

"Kyoko, hel-"

"PRINCESS KYOOOKOOO! COME AND PLAY WITH MEEE!" came the cry of the demon Haru, as Tsuna now called her in his mind. She was a green blur in the distance, but her voice carried over the field they had crossed to get to the sparring ground easily, and she soon drew close to his sister. She tugged at his sisters arm, asking if she wanted to play and Kyoko was helpless against the other girls energy. She was soon pulled back to the castle by Haru, leaving Tsuna helpless with this Dino character, who was laughing at the energy kids have, and how happy Haru seemed today.

Soon poor Tsuna was standing in the middle of the scarring court with a heavy wooden sword in his little hand that could barely fit around it. It was actually the same size as him in length. His metal helmet was loose on his head, and the shin, arm and elbow plates strapped to his body made it difficult to bend his legs or his arms, or even to breathe comfortably! Worse, Tsuna felt the urge for the bathroom.

He suddenly felt a very potent need to cry as he stood facing this horrible, horrible man with a deceivingly kind face.

"Sorry about the armor, but better safe than sorry, ne?" He said, "I don't think your father will be happy with he if you broke something on your first go..." he smiled cheerfully, standing there with no armor on at all. Tsuna recalled that Hibari had not worn any armor, either, and felt both very foolish and yet grateful at the same time. At least he won't have to worry about broken bones anymore.

"Okay, your highness, since this is your very first time I'll give you some of the basics. Your posture is all wrong, for a start, and you're not holding the blade right at all..."

And it was like this for half an hour, with nothing happening but Dino showing him some basic moves and steps to make with his feet, a few basic blocks, a few strikes, what not to do and so on. By the time he had finished and was standing in front of Tsuna, Tsuna had switched off completely, as he often did when being tutored back at home, and was staring off at the castle where his sister had disappeared to in longing.

Dino noticed this and stopped mid-speech. "Don't you want to spar anymore, Prince Tsuna? Perhaps I overdid the introduction a little..."

"He will definitely spar." Said a voice that instantly got Tsuna's full attention. Hibari sauntered over took the sword from Dino without a word. "Let's see how well the Vongola prince can fight."

_Oh no!_ Shrieked Tsuna in his mind, _this is definitely not what I want to do! _Yet he couldn't move from fear, and when Hibari suddenly lurched forward with the sword like a viper trying to bite him to death, Tsuna tripped over his own feet trying to step back and the sword missed him by a hair. He fell to the dirt with a cry and a clash of metal.

"Excellent dodging movement, Prince Tsuna! But try not to fall down so openly, right now you are helpless against your-"

Hibari stabbed again at Tsuna's chest, and the little prince had to roll to avoid it onto his front. _That would have killed me! _Was all Tsuna could think, and _I'm going to die!_

He realized that his back was now completely exposed and that he wouldn't be able to get up quickly enough to escape the next stab...

He covered his head in fear for the blow.

...

Where was the blow?

Tsuna opened his tightly scrunched up eyes, seeing white blare in his vision for a moment from the force he'd squeezed them closed, and peeped up behind him to see the heart stopping image of the demon standing over him.

Hibari was frustrated that he'd missed not once, but twice already! This time Tsuna would definitely feel his wrath. As soon as he didn't have his back turned to him, the ugly little creature would die.

Just as he saw Tsuna peep up to look at him with that annoying doe-eyed stare of terror, he felt his patience snap. Tsuna shrieked and leaped up onto his feet as Hibari swung low for his head...

"Use your sword, Tsuna!"

And Tsuna lifted the sword to shield his head, which by some miracle saved him from a direct wooden clunk to the head, but instead stung his hand from the force of the blow, making him drop the sword by reflex with a welp of pain.

Hibari was now very angry at this little boys luck and ashamed that he had not been able to land one single hit. Tsuna, standing there without a sword, looking weak...Hibari wasn't thinking like a prince when he decided to screw the rules of sparring and to bite him to death, raising his sword, taking one step back in order to dart forward...

"Prince Hibari, what are you doing?!" Dino gasped suddenly, standing between him and his prey out of nowhere. "He dropped his sword! Let him pick it up first-"

"Urgh-" came a strained whining sound. Dino looked down behind him and suddenly looked very nervous.

"Er..."

The little prince could not contain himself any longer. This was too much, and now he just couldn't stop!

"Urrrggghh-aahh-aaaaaah! Waaahhhhh!"

The dam had broken, in more ways than one.

"WWAAAAAAAHHH!" Cried Tsuna, and poor Dino did not know what to do other than to pat his head to try and console him.

"There there, Prince Tsuna! It's okay, these accidents happen." he tried to say, though admittedly he couldn't think of a time this had ever happened. His voice was lost in the little princes cries, which weren't so little, and seemed to get louder at Dinos efforts.

"Disgusting herbivore..." Hibari thought, and turned away from the sorry sight to see a crowd of people that had gathered behind the wooden fence that marked the sparring area. They had wanted to see the fight of the future kings, and had adoring looks on their faces, or some of them uncomfortable, at the scene before them. The spar had not lasted that long, and yet there were no less than 50 people gathered.

"I hate crowds." Prince Hibari scowled, and pointedly started to walk towards the real swords leaning against the wall with the other training equipment. The crowd noticed his route and paled. "I will bite you to death." He growled, and suddenly they were gone.

He climbed out of the sparring range and headed straight for the castle.

Dino noticed that he had gone as soon as Prince Tsuna had been led away by the servant who had brought him here in the first place. Standing alone in the sparring ground, he chuckled to himself. "That was... unexpected." he mumbled, and picked up the little sword Tsuna had used to put it back where it came from. "Was that really the future king of Vongola?"

"Prince Tsuna has a ranking of 2718 out of 2718 sword users in the the kingdom, and ranks 8172 out of 8172 in hand-eye co-ordination skills." Lord Fuuta said dreamily from nowhere. He was a small boy with ordinary features and mousy brown hair, which seemed to float on his head as he said this. He had a glazed over expression while everything else around him floated too, before he seemed to come back down to earth with a soft thud. His eyes cleared. "That's the worst fighting ability ranking I have ever seen." He said.

"Ah, is that so?" Dino said nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Well, he's just a kid...so I guess that is to be expected."

"From a prince, though?"

"No, not from a prince. But from any normal kid his age he was about right. Perhaps he's just an ugly duckling?"

"What? But he's so cute!" Fuuta exclaimed, and Dino laughed.

"Not literally. I mean, perhaps he shall grow into his own unique talents as king when his time comes. Like a swan."

"Then, lets hope that he lives long enough to be grow his feathers." Fuuta said thoughtfully, "Hibari doesn't seem to like the little swan prince very much."

"He doesn't, does he?" laughed Dino, but Fuuta did not think it was a laughing matter. "That poor kid. Did you know they are to meet every summer from now on? By the time Prince Tsuna grows up, he'd have learnt to spar like a King, or will be bitten to death in the process. The Black Prince will make sure of that."

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**A/N:** I'm having a little trouble casting the characters all of a sudden! But I'll do my best :) If anyone who has seen the Swan Princess knows a KHR character who would best fit a role, let me know, k? Thank-you for reading and reviewing, I am very grateful ^^


	3. Namimori

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**Chapter Two – First Summer Part One: Namimori Kingdom**

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The following stay went like this: On the first night, Tsuna made the grave mistake of saying 'yes' to separate bedrooms.

It simply had not occurred to him that by 'separate rooms' they had meant he would be separated from his sister and their father, who he usually crawled into bed with during the night at his own kingdom. It had been this way always – the three of them snuggled up warm and cosy in the king sized bed, their own beds forgotten. Tsuna and Kyoko had never known their mother, so it had always been so - Tsuna could not conceive anything different. So by 'separate rooms' Tsuna could only assume that they meant separate rooms from the likes of Hibari and Haru – to which he had replied 'yes' with great vigor, without hesitation.

Worse than this mistake made by Tsuna, he did not fall asleep in the bed that was given to him that very night. He had fallen asleep in front of the fire in his fathers lap, and so had not been awake during the transition between the main living room and this strange new bedroom. Someone must have carried him here in his sleep. Therefore, he had no idea where either his sister or his father could be!

As soon as he woke up in the darkness with this realization, he felt utter terror. He could not even close his eyes in order fall back to sleep properly. He shivered under the blankets pulled up over his head, and kept imagining that Hibari was going to sneak into his room and crawl underneath the sheets to bite him, or Haru would storm in to jump on him, or Dino would stroll in with his cheery smile to drag him off to break his bones in the sparring ground.

Tsuna did not dare venture out of his room with these thoughts in his head – he would surely get lost in the dark and killed! Back at home, they had candles in the bedrooms and in the hallway leading to the toilets, always lit, in case one of them woke up in the night. Here, though, he could see no candles in his room, and his door was shut, with no soft flickering light creeping in through the crack underneath.

Despite the terror gripping his racing heart, his little body was still so exhausted from the long day that he did indeed slip back into sleep, and later, to his delight, woke up beside his sister after all! He supposed she must have crawled into his bed during the night. For here she was, hiding beneath the blankets. "She must have been so frightened!' Tsuna thought, thinking he must have been a great comfort to his sister that first night in the strange castle. 'Perhaps I am not such a no-good brother after all!' And with that, he snuggled up to her in happiness.

After a little while she snuggled back by shifting an arm to his waist and nudging his forehead with her chin. Tsuna thought this a little strange – she had never snuggled up to him this way before. Usually they just held hands. She must be feeling more lonely, and wanted to snuggle closer than usual.

And she felt a little strange, Tsuna thought after a moment – taller and less soft somehow. Perhaps it was the way she was further up the pillow than him, snuggled underneath the blankets as he was.

Though, she smelt a little different too, Tsuna realized. Very different, he amended, She smells a bit like...a lot like...

"Prince Hibari," said a familiar cheerful voice from the other side of the room, "the sun has dawned. I'll be waiting for you in the sparring ground, as requested!"

The door closed with a snap.

A sinister feeling of dread began to swell in Tsuna's chest, constricting his breathing as he froze with fear. He managed to look up in growing panic to the face angled down at him on the pillow. The face was dark-haired with almond shaped eyes and pale skin. The face had a not-Kyoko nose, and a not-Kyoko's mouth. When Hibari's eyes opened that moment, Tsuna thought his heart had actually stopped beating.

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"See, no worries. He won't bite unless you wake him up without a reason." Dino said to the nervous servant waiting at the end of the corridor. "Well...in theory, anyway..." he amended, laughing a little as he descended the spiral stairway from the bed chambers.

"In...theory, Lord Dino?" The servant said, as if to say 'that wasn't a very convincing statement'.

"Well, you know his highness. He's unpredictable. You knows what he's thinking first thing in the morning?"

"Yes...I'm glad you have the courage to wake him up yourself, Lord Dino. I'm sorry I couldn't do it myself, but I do have a wife, and three children..."

"It's fine, it's fine! It's understandable. I admit he was a little moodier than usual yesterday– I suppose he was just feeling a little shy around the new royalties." Dino said thoughtfully, "I suppose he must have gotten over it by now, though..."

'_Shy_ isn't the word...' thought the servant, but instead replied "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Dino said, picking an apple from the fruit bowl by the kitchen entrance. "Well, I thought I saw Prince Tsuna lying in bed with him just now." He took a bite of his apple, not seeming to understand the implications of his words, "and they looked pretty close. It was so cute! You missed a treat!"

The servant did not know whether to laugh at Lord Dino's stupidity, or cry from the sheer horror of it.

Suddenly there was a loud clatter upstairs, followed by a muffled screaming that gradually got louder and shriller, followed by an even louder clatter of metallic objects crashing to the ground. That made the voice rise to an even shriller pitch than before –followed by silence.

The servant was more frightened of that eerie quiet than the previous hysterics. He wondered with growing panic what had befallen the little prince...

"You see? The moment they wake up, they're playing games with each other," Dino said, completely unfazed by it all. "Kids have so much energy in the mornings these days!"

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After a week recovering from his trauma, Tsuna could finally be coaxed into letting go of his fathers leg. If not clutching the King's leg, it was his arm, his waist, his hand, sitting on his shoulders clutching his head, or Tsuna's favorite; clutching his fathers neck and hiding his face into the broad shoulders, supported by strong arms.

"Tsu-kun, would you like to go for a ride around the Namimori kingdom?" Queen Nana asked at breakfast one morning, as Tsuna sat eating toast in his fathers lap. He stopped to stare at Nana at her words. "You shall have a carriage all to yourselves, and we could get some delicious sweet grapes from the market place. Would you like that, Tsuna? A ride around the kingdom? It is a lovely day, after all..."

Hesitantly he thought about the grapes, which he had tried only once before in his own kingdom. He remembered that they could only be grown using magic, which was why they tasted so sweet. They were very, very wonderfully sweet...

With this in mind, he nodded his head shyly.

"Wonderful!" Cried the queen, clapping her hands in delight and startling Tsuna into dropping his toast (butter side down). "Then, we shall leave at once!"

And as soon as the royalties had finished their breakfasts, the Queen made arrangements for a day out in the kingdom on that lovely sunny day. "And when we return, a picnic on the Roku river, in the shade of the trees...oh what a good idea I've had!"

The open carriages waiting for them were black with gold plating and a white cushioned seating. The horses pulling either were grey, the footman on each dressed in grey and gold uniform to match the horse and carriage. The sun was shining warm and bright, making the forest the carriages were parked in front of seem friendly and inviting.

Going straight through that forest on the dirt path would lead back to the Vongola kingdom's castle, Tsuna knew. But they were going along the path going straight left, to the Namimori kingdom's main village instead.

The king and queen sat together in the front carriage, and behind sat the four little royalties in another open carriage. Once again, Tsuna felt he had been tricked by the queen: hadn't she said that he would have 'a carriage all to yourselves?' - meaning only Tsuna and Kyoko? But no, they were to share with the evil siblings.

Since Haru insisted on sitting beside Kyoko, Tsuna was, to his misery, forced to sit next to Hibari. At his whimper when he saw where he was to sit, Hibari scrunched up his face in a childish manner. "The feeling is mutual." He said, and did not look Tsuna again even once.

"You look sick, Prince Tsuna," Haru said once they had started on their journey. "You're not about to faint again, are you?" She had heard, as had the of the whole castle, of how the little prince had run from Prince Hibari's room at the crack of dawn, had run straight into a suit of amour, and had cried himself breathless and into a faint before Hibari could get to him. Which was lucky for him, really, as it was certain that Hibari was surely about to bite him to death upon catching him that morning.

Tsuna merely shook his head no at Haru, he did not feel sick or faint...merely upset for being tricked, and was currently trying very hard not to relax or touch the boy sitting next to him in any way.

The townspeople seemed friendly and eager to see them as they approached, a mere twenty minutes later. They paused in whatever they were doing to wave happily at the Queen, and to bow in respect to the king of another kingdom. Bakers carrying bundles of bread, women with pales of water over their shoulders, fruit sellers on their stalls, mothers with baskets and children, old men and young men, old ladies and pretty women, all pausing in their business to smile and bow for the royalties.

Hibari saw this and was secretly greatly impressed. They usually did not bow for his mother – though from a lack of fear on their part, rather than a lack of respect (which would be absolutely unacceptable) - for they waved and cheered at her instead. For the king in that first carriage, however, they bow. What power a king has over people who are not even from his own country!

"It's not quite like the kingdom back at home..." Kyoko commented, peering out and waving a little, though strangely, no one waved back at their own carriage. "They seem a little more...subdued." Tsuna looked at her questioningly at that. "Less noisy." Kyoko clarified, realizing she had unintentionally used the word Queen Nana had described her as. "A little subdued", she had said.

Tsuna looked and saw a little girl with short black hair try to wave back at his sister, but her mother stopped her hand and gestured for her to bow, glancing worriedly up at the carriage as she did. Tsuna wondered if it was because they were shy to meet them, since they were strangers to this kingdom.

But no, that was most definitely fear in that mans eyes just now, Tsuna thought. And he was looking straight at Tsuna! No, Tsuna realized, upon following his line of vision...he was looking to the person beside him.

Of coarse.

Tsuna thought it only a little strange that they were afraid of a ten-year-old. On the other hand that ten year old was ten year old Hibari, who was the future king, and known as carrying his fathers will of Dicipline as the 'Black Prince'.

When Tsuna had heard this nickname from one of the kitchen maids, he had been greatly disturbed.

They passed the bakery, where upon Haru ordered for the carriages to stop and called for some cake from the cheery looking baker, who happily obliged, free of charge. It was the spongiest most perfected baked cake, still warm from the oven. She shared a generous amount with Kyoko, and offered Tsuna a bit rather grudgingly.

They didn't get much further up the street when Queen Nana spotted a dress shop, and climbed out of the carriage in order to take a look. She peered in for moment and asked the women inside something the others could not hear, then she turned around and beckoned for the princess' to join her.

Kyoko held out her hand and Tsuna took it with relief. He did not want to be left alone with the Black Prince!

The footman pulled out the steps and helped the little royalties off the carriage. Passers by had started to gather and awwed with delight at the twins holding hands as they entered the shop, Haru bouncing off in front of them. At first she thought everyone was cooing at her, and was feeling very happy about it, until she heard the words 'darling little twins' and 'aren't they cute', to which she saw they only had eyes for the two sticking together. Upon realizing this she ran back out of the shop. They laughed with delight at this, "Haru is as lively as ever, too!" She heard them say.

But she thought she knew what everyone thought was so very cute about Kyoko and Tsuna, and grabbed her older brother by the cuff of his shirt and forced her hand into his, dragging him off from the carriage and heading for the shop, smiling sweetly at the crowds.

'See,' thought Haru, 'I am just as cute next to my brother too!'

But the crowd only stiffened upon seeing the Prince Hibari, and bowed respectfully as he was dragged into the shop. Some looked down right scared at Haru's daring.

"What are you doing, Haru?" Hibari demanded when she stopped, getting over his surprise for being man handled by his little sister, She merely huffed and roughly let go of his hand.

"You're not cute at all!" She cried, seemingly randomly to Hibari, and disappeared into the shop for good. Hibari stood for a moment, debating whether to sit alone in the carriage and wait for them, or carry on on the way Haru had dragged him. He glanced around and saw the crowd move swiftly into deep bows of respect again, much to his satisfaction.

"I have no interest in a dress shop..." he declared, and turned to the footmen, "take me to the blacksmiths."

"B-but your highness, your mother and the other royalties are.."

Hibari climbed into the carriage and shut the door behind him. He sat and stared at the footman with a cold hard glare. "You will take me to the blacksmiths," he repeated in a low threatening tone, with all the authority of the king.

And who was a lowly footman to deny a future king?

So the carriage over took the one with King Iemitsu in it and carried on down the road to the blacksmiths.

After an hour or so the Queen and her daughter and the little royalities from the neighboring kingdom left the shop empty handed. But then behind them trailed two guards carrying bags of beautiful elegant dresses and clothes that piled in their arms, making it hard for them to see where they were going.

Once the items were in the carriage there was only room for one other person, and since Hibari had gone with the other carriage (Nana merely laughed at that), they decided they would walk through the town instead. "After all, it is a lovely day!" Queen Nana beamed.

"That is inappropriate, your highness..." a guard tried to say, but Queen Nana would have nothing of it, which greatly amused the king.

It was a pleasant walk through the town. Tsuna was happy to walk holding Kyoko's hand, and there was no Hibari in sight.

Upon reaching the town centre with a large fountain spilling water into a stone basin, they spotted a crowd of children watching a puppet show with vast fascination. Some were sitting on the walls of the fountain, some on the floor, and a few were playing in it, splashing water at each other. The town centre was surrounded by the prettiest shops, of flowers and jewelry and fine clothes and another bakery. The children brought the square to life, and Tsuna and Kyoko soon felt right at home there.

They were left to watch the show for a while so that the king and queen could explore the more adult-shops in the area, leaving the royalties in the care of the guards. Tsuna and Kyoko sat on the fountain with the other children. Of coarse, needless to say Prince Tsuna fell in at one point – having been startled by the dragon in the puppet show appearing. At this point they left the town center to help the prince calm down from crying, and Queen Nana came to the rescue with the new clothes she had brought from the dress shop before.

Around midday they caught up with Hibari's carriage parked outside the blacksmiths near the edge of town. King Iemitsu spotted a barber's shop opposite, the man cutting mens hair outside in the shade of the building. The king asked for his own beard and hair to be trimmed in good humour, and the nervous barber set about doing so. After this, the crowds were not as hesitant or stiff around the king any longer. He was so friendly and even a little silly...is that really the king of the Vongola kingdom?

Hibari upon seeing this was not impressed, and could not quite belief his audacity and carelessness – did he not want fear and respect from the village people? How would they come to obey and respect him if he acted just like them?

While he was pondering this, Queen Nana exclaims that they had reached their destination. At first they thought she meant the blacksmiths where Prince Hibari had just come from, but then she gestured to the outskirts of the town to the dirt trail leading to an ordinary looking farm house about 5 minutes walk away, just outside of town.

The farm belonged to the Bovino family, who worked with a little magic and raised mostly cows. They sometimes sold magic products to the kingdom, from beans to bazookas, that were only fit for royalty and for those with a lot of money.

Inside they were greeted by a sturdy old lady and her son, the owner of the farm, and later his wife. "We have a son, but he is out playing with his little friend outside at the moment." She said, and then her and the farmer began to chat with the king and queen like old friends.

It was from this place that the queen kept her promise to Tsuna and brought four batches of sweet white grapes for him, Kyoko, Haru and Hibari to eat. (Yes, even Hibari could not resist those grapes.) Before Tsuna could start eating them, however, he suddenly felt the urgent need to go to the toilet.

He did not want to go alone, but Queen Nana had insisted that the guards stay behind at the village to guard the carriages, so as not to make the people who own the farm uncomfortable with their visit. He mentioned not wanting to go alone to his father, who merely said "then Hibari will go with you." At this Tsuna shook his head vigorously and said that he would go alone.

"Are you sure? Then the toilet is just down the lane past the cow pen." Said the farmers wife, and Tsuna, not wanting to make a fuss like he had at the fountain earlier, went alone.

The farm out back was larger than it seemed from the front. They kept several pens of animals, chickens over there, pigs to his right, a dozen sheep to the far left, and by the pond there were ducks and a few more loose chickens. They smelt very strongly of hay and horse manure, and Tsuna could make out horses grazing in the field a little way off, though they were brown instead of grey like the ones pulling the carriages.

There were a lot of cows. They seemed like monsters to the little Tsuna, who knew that they were harmless and yet could not bring himself to not be a little afraid of them. He passed by a doll clad in red with slanted eyes and a pony-tail high up on it's head leaning against the chicken pen. He passed it by and finally reached the toilet at the end of the lane. What a long journey just to go to the toilet, Tsuna thought! He was glad he didn't need it too badly.

Open walking back from the toilet, Tsuna heard someone crying. He looked around and spotted a little boy no older than himself, sitting against the fence surrounding the cow pen where he hadn't been before. Sure enough, he was openly wailing.

At first Tsuna thought he should run away and get help from a grown-up. But then he realized that maybe he could help, and went to see what was the matter.

His name was Lambo. He had a mass of afro black hair and wide watery green eyes that were puffy and red from crying so hard. He wore a strange cow printed costume with a little tail pinned to the back. He was probably playing dress-up, Tsuna thought, and asked him why he was crying.

"That fat girl over there drunk all my lunch!" He cried, pointing frantically at a little red clad person in the distance. Tsuna was surprised – that doll was a girl? "And I can't get any more of it, because the cow always tries to eat me!"

"What! Really? Cows do that?!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"They definitely do that!" Lambo replied with wide eyes pleading the truth of it.

This only made Tsuna's fear of cows increase ten fold. Feeling sorry for Lambo, he gave the little cow boy his own bunch of grapes to try and calm him down. Tsuna was also afraid of cows after all, so fetching him the fresh milk he wanted from the cow's in the pen was out of the question.

"Ah! My families grapes! How did you get these?!"

"The kind lady of the house gave them to me. Is that strange?"

"I've never even got to taste these before! They always say 'these are for royalty and the rich, and you are neither! Go play with the chickens!', and I love playing with chickens, so I do, and I never get the grapes! Ah!" He put one in his mouth, "ooohhh soo gooood!" And he started to eat them faster and faster. "Bank-ku Fuma-bee! (Thank-you Tsuna-nee!)"

"You're- eh, welcome...hey! Wait! Aren't you going to share them?" Tsuna had only meant to offer him a few of them, but they were rapidly disappearing from Lambo's hands. And when Tsuna mentioned the word 'share', Lambos eyes snapped open where they had been closed in bliss before. He jumped to his feet, stuffed the whole lot of what was left of the grapes into his mouth and swallowed thickly. Tsuna was amazed he didn't choke on them, and part of him secretly wished that he would.

"They were too good to share! Go get your own!" He said crossly, and took off down the lane in a cloud of dirt.

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**A/N: **Such a nice day out! Ahh I miss those puppet shows. When is the last time I saw a puppet show, you ask? Oh my...I think it was the one about George and the Dragon. What, you didn't ask that question? And oh, I didn't even answer it right?? Heh, nevermind.

My favourate part was when Tsuna woke up in Hibari's bed. Ah! I wish I had a camera! Haha, good night everyone, and I'll update next week! Thank-you for reading :)


	4. Roku River

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**Chapter Three – First Summer Part Two: Roku River**

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Later that evening they had a picnic by the Roku River that ran past the Namimori castle. "The very same river that runs through our own kingdom," King Iemitsu said to Tsuna and Kyoko as they settled down on it's grassy banks. A servant laid down a lilac colored clothe for them to sit on, and three more settled two baskets of food each on it's edges to keep it from flapping up in the wind, and then retreated into the castle.

The river ran from the trees of the forest and meandered off to the left down towards the village, where it ran out to the docks and into the sea. It was on this bend that the royal party of six sat down for their evening meal. It was summer, and at this time of the day the sun in the sky was still warm, and not too hot to sit under.

Kyoko had shared her grapes with Tsuna on their return from the farm, since Lambo had stolen his, and they together saved some as dessert for after the picnic. They needn't have done this, though, as the picnic was made up of only sweet things: royal honey and bread sandwiches, strawberry jam sandwiches, chocolate cake, blueberry muffins, raspberry jam tarts, chocolate chip cookies, strawberry jelly with whipped cream, lemon cake..."Oh my!" exclaimed Queen Nana, "I don't think we could do this every day, children. I shall get fat with so many nice things!"

"None sense!" said the King, "a lady should be able to eat all the sweet things she likes! Isn't that so, Princess Haru?"

But Haru had her mouth full of lemon cake. She had whipped cream around her mouth from the jelly she had already eaten. Tsuna was amazed at her sweet tooth.

"None of this is really food." Hibari said with distaste, and he didn't touch anything.

Without warning, the king took off his shoes and rolled up his trousers, and began to wade into the river. "It's freezing!" He gasped.

"What are you doing, you silly thing? You're going to catch cold!" exclaimed the Queen.

"I am going to catch us some fish for Hibari and myself to eat. He is right, men can not live on sweets alone like ladies can!"

The girls giggled as Tsuna yelped "I am a man too, Papa!"

"Ah, I'm sorry son. But you seemed to be enjoying your muffin so much, and you are so cute, I mistake you for a girl!"

Tsuna turned red at this and Haru giggled at his hurt expression. "Awww, don't be so mean, Iemitsu!" Giggled the queen, and pulled Tsuna into a hug as a reflex reaction. This boy was easily hurt and to make cry.

"I was only teasing you, son! Come and join me!" Laughed the king, "Let's catch some fish for us to eat. And maybe some for the ladies too, if they would like."

"Ewww who would want some smelly fish for their lunch? I won't forgive you if you bring them back over here! You eat your fish where you are, understand?" Haru said, wagging her finger at the king as though telling off a child. The king only laughed and agreed, rolling up his sleeves.

"We have servants for such things, King Iemitsu. A king should not have to get his feet wet to catch some fish for his supper like a common fish monger."

"Ah, but Prince Hibari, nothing tastes better than fish caught by your own two hands! And besides..." He dipped his head beneath the water, and darted underneath in an instant. He sprung up with a fish flapping wildly in his hands, "it is fun!" He laughed, hair dripping and clothes throughly soaked. He then proceeded to drop the fish back into the river, haven lost his grip while he was laughing.

"Come on, Tsuna, Hibari. Nana and the girls, come and join me!"

"I will join you, Papa." Said the quiet Kyoko, to Haru and Hibari's surprise.

"What are you doing, Kyoko! You are a princess!" Haru gasped. "There are fish in that river! You don't want to touch a fish, do you?"

"I don't mind, they are only little fish. They won't hurt me." She replied, talking off her dress. "Are you coming, Tsuna?"

But Tsuna shook his head. The water was cold and looked much too deep, it reached his fathers waist, after all – and Tsuna could not swim! Also, he was a little afraid of the water – and of fish. He didn't know whether they had teeth or not, but what if they did!

Kyoko fearlessly dipped her toe into the river in nothing but her underwear and squeaked at the temperature. The king motioned for her to jump in, so she took a step back and leapt into her fathers arms, making a huge splash. Only a tiny bit hit the picnic, though, which Haru squealed at.

"I think I can feel a fish at my feet..." said Kyoko.

"They shall swim into your knickers! And tickle your privates!" Yelled Haru, and the queen gasped and rapped her on the head for her rudeness.

Hibari could not believe the two of them, and could not stop staring at the unruly behaviour of the two from the Vongola kingdom. They had no discipline what-so-ever! How can the king be acting in such a way? He was very glad that no one of his own royal family would ever even think of doing such shameless acts.

And just as he was thinking this, there was a little splash and a squeal of delight. Hibari saw to his horror none other than the Queen, his own mother, standing in the river. She had jumped right in, dress and all, much to the surprise of her children, who were gaping at her as though she had sprouted wings and had abandoned them to fly away. They had never seen their mother do such a thing before!

"Nana!" Exclaimed the King. "Glad you could join us! But ah, your dress! Won't it be ruined?"

But the queen only laughed as she tried to pat it down where it had ballooned in the water. "I have hundreds of them! And besides, a little water won't hurt it." She said, "though, it is awfully heavy...I would do better to just take it off..." And with that she flopped onto the grassy bank to try and pull herself out, but she did not get very far, she was laughing so much. "Hibari, be a dear and help your mother!" She giggled, and poor Hibari had to suffer the weight of his mother using him as leverage to climb from the river, his hands and sleeve getting wet with river water in the process.

She peeled off her dress with help from Haru and left it on the bank, before diving back in and into the Kings fully-dressed arms. She still wore her under-garments, which was made up of a thin white material covering her legs and covering her top. She did not wear corsets in the summer, and so she was quite decent in what she did. Although Prince Hibari didn't see it that way.

The king was very impressed with her exciting personality and merely laughed. "Come on, guys! Will it be just me with the girls after all? My, I am a lucky man!" He laughed, hugging Kyoko and getting splashed by the queen playfully, "Tsuna, the water is not that cold, you know!" He beckoned with his hands.

"And fish don't have teeth." Kyoko said thoughtfully, "so they can't hurt you."

"Ah, really?" Tsuna said, relieved to hear such a thing. Kyoko nodded, and Tsuna only hesitated for a moment before he began to undress.

"Ah, well done, Kyoko! You always seem to know exactly what to say to put him at ease, don't you, my girl?" beamed the king.

"Well, they are twins, after all..." said the queen.

Tsuna sat at the bank with his feet dipped in for most of the time. Eventually they managed to convince Tsuna to join them when King Iemitsu promised that he wouldn't let him go for as long as he was in the river. Tsuna wore only his underwear to jump into the river.

But Princess Haru refused to join them because of the fish, and as for Hibari - because of his pride.

The king asked Hibari to join them once again having caught four fish on the bank. Hibari did not reply, and instead continued to snooze in the sun. He lay on the clothe with his arms behind his head, feeling the sun tingling his cheeks, when he heared Tsuna say through the girls giggling "It's okay, Hibari. There's nothing to be scared of!" For Tsuna was proud that he was not afraid of something Hibari seemed to be of, and having fun in his fathers arms gave him courage against Hibari's looks of death.

Hibari's eyes snapped open and narrowed dangerously. "Scared?"

"The fish won't hurt you, and water is just water!" Tsuna said, splashing his hands for effect. "Or maybe it's that you cannot swim?" Tsuna did not sense the danger he was in using such words. "It's warm and it's-" SPLISSSH.

Hibari jumped right into the river in his shirt and trousers before Tsuna even realized what he was doing, splashing everyone. He then swam flawlessly up to Tsuna (and he could barely touch the bottom!), and went right up to his face to say, "I fear nothing, herbivore. Say such things again and I will definitely b-blub!"

"THAT's the spirit, your highness!" Said the King, dunking the kids head below the water. "Isn't this fun?"

While he was there, Hibari grudgingly decided to catch some fish. Tsuna regretted inviting him at this, for he feared now that Hibari would swim underneath the water and bite him like a shark. He was very scary with his sharp blue eyes squinting like that when he came up for air, and he stayed under the water for unnaturally long periods of time. That was the worst – when he could see only his dark shape swimming beneath the water. Oh, what terror!

Sitting alone on the bank, Haru began to sulk. Until the queen dared to splash her with water, and then Haru ran up and kicked at the water up at the queen right back, splashing Kyoko in the face too. They both splashed back, and so Haru sat on the bank and had fun without fear of fish.

They were unaware that they were being watched by many, many people from the castle. "Would you look at that?" They said in awe, "don't they look just like a happy family?"

They waded for a while until they had caught more than ten fish, and then they decided to dry off and lie in the last rays of the sun. The Queen crawled out first, followed by Kyoko and Tsuna, followed by the King and then Hibari. The sky turned a deep orange and yellow as the sun began to set in the sky.

Sensing their contentment, a gaggle of geese and one or two ducks decided to settle in the spot they had played in, and Haru, Kyoko and Tsuna took great pleasure in feeding them with the royal bread. It wasn't long before they caught the attention of two white swans that were gliding slowly towards the forest from the direction of the village.

The evening sun dazzled the river, like liquid light flowing through the veins of the castle grounds. Little white daisy flowers bobbed in the breeze along it's grassy banks. Tsuna found it hard to look directly at the rivers brightness while feeding the ducks, and turned away for a moment, shielding his eyes from the setting sun.

The two swans that had gone by a moment ago were there in the distance, gliding into the dark recesses of the forest. It was there in the darkest shadow of the trees that Tsuna first spotted a boy under a curse (though he did not know of that yet).

The boy was standing in the shade with his hands in his pockets, and seemed to be looking directly at Tsuna. He was wearing a loose white shirt and black trousers, he had short black hair and a rather knowing smile. Even as Tsuna watched, the boy waved at him a little as though he knew him, making Tsuna take a step back in surprise.

Suddenly another boy seemed to fall out of the trees behind the first, this one with silvery grey hair framing a stern expression on his face. This one tapped the first boy on the shoulder harshly, pointed towards the sun and then, without warning, hurriedly dragged him off back into the trees.

Tsuna continued to stare for a long time even after they had gone, wondering whether they were part of the kingdom. They had looked very young, at least his own age.

"How stupid. They will definitely die soon, playing in those forests. That is what happens when the children lack discipline." Said a cold voice.

Hibari had seen them too, then.

He later told his father of what he had seen, and the queen sent some of her men to investigate, but they came back empty handed. "I shall try and see if anyone is missing two boys from the village tomorrow, and inform them of what you saw, Tsuna. They may just be children who have wondered off into the forest...which you must never do, for it is very dangerous..." - is what was said on the matter, and then that was that.

That night they slept very well, and Tsuna dreamt of catching a fish with his hands, then looked up and saw cows with afros chewing grapes from his hands and slimming them with their tongues. But Tsuna was so tired, he did not sleep walk even once.

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By July, they had visited the stables and rode on horseback, in which Tsuna had refused to get on unless with his father, and had whined about his legs hurting within the first 2 minutes. Hibari galloped off into the far distance as if to mock him at that.

King Iemitsu had decided to build a tree house for them to play in one day in July too, so that they could have a secret hide out. Tsuna refused to go up, claiming that it was much too high and much too dangerous, and Kyoko would not go up without him. Hibari and Haru had no problem climbing up and exploring the house, until Hibari called it 'dull' and Haru 'mine'.

Hibari sparred a lot, Tsuna found. Tsuna did not enter the ring even once after what had happened before, but sometimes he liked to go to the sparing ground to watch the archers further down the field near the forest. They fired away from the castle and away from the forest so as not to accidentally hurt anybody or lose an arrow. Hibari practiced this too, though not as much as sparring. Tsuna, being small and not very strong, chose to practice shooting arrows instead, until a boy told him with a strange look in his eyes that he ranked 180th out of the 182 boys who practice archery in the Namimori kingdom. "What a terrible ranking, your highness." He had said with a slight jolt as his feet touched the ground, and then Tsuna realized that he had been floating. After that, Tsuna did not care much for archery.

At some point, Tsuna's tooth fell out the same day as Haru's.

Sometime in August Tsuna had visited the kitchen, had met the girl called Bianchi who liked to experiment with her cooking with strange plants from the royal gardens. Tsuna had smelt a strange burning smell and had seen colored smoke rising from the kitchen back entrance, and had gone to investigate. He spotted the older girl calmly stirring the potion. Seeing the prince she had offered him her lunch, and not wanting to be rude he had tried a little. The only thing he could remember of that ordeal was glimpsing Hibari standing in the kitchen entrance, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed across his chest. Then there had been pain and then he had fainted.

The Nanamori doctor was also a demon – he would not treat any boy! Worse, he used insects to give people in the kingdom he didn't like diseases - he even told Tsuna so while he was in pain on the bed! Shamal was very nice to Kyoko though, and let her stay with her brother.

Poor Tsuna had to just bare with the terrible stomach ache, until a strange boy called Fuuta – the one from archery - spoke of a medicine that was ranked best for bad belly aches, and it had worked straight away. Fuuta did not seem too bad of a person, Tsuna thought. They became friends.

And then it was September.

Needless to say, little Tsuna was relieved to the point of crying with happiness when the day came that he was seated in the carriage ready for home. Queen Nana mistook them for tears of sadness of course, and told him not to worry, for she, Haru and Hibari would be joining them at the Vongola kingdom next summer.

Tsuna was not as happy to be reminded of this. Who knows what horrors those siblings may unleash at his very own kingdom?

They had planned to set out early morning in order to make it back to the palace before nightfall. However, due to the long goodbyes, it was almost midday before they finally pulled out from the front of the castle.

Tsuna looked behind and saw Queen Nana waving happily, Haru bouncing at her feet. Beside her stood Hibari with his arms folded, glaring at the carriage. When Tsuna saw that, he got a chill run down his spine, and could no longer look out for fear of having nightmares about it.

As it was autumn and they had set out late, it was soon nightfall in the forest. The path became difficult to see, and the surrounding forests grew quieter, the sky darker, and shadows cast by the moon stretched along the path. It was quite terrifying.

"I should have thought to ask Reborn to come along..." Iemitsu thought. Reborn was on a quest in another country, however. Who knew when he would be back? He was also the kingdom's very own magic-user, much like Fuuta of the Namimori kingdom. Whereas Fuuta brought order with his rankings, though, Reborn could transform his pet lizard into any object.

Tsuna looked up at some point to see his father and his sister fast asleep, despite the uncomfortable situation they were in. It was dangerous in the forest at night! Anything could happen to them at this moment in time! Wolves! Bears! Evil sorcerers! "Of course, the king has no fear, he could sleep through anything, and my sister? She is too clueless,' Tsuna thought. Oddly, the boys from months before popped into his head as he thought of the darkness of the forests, and he wondered if they had ever been found.

He peeped out of the carriage window again, which was rather brave of him, to see if they were any closer to home.

Of course, Tsuna did not recognize anything in the darkness. They are passing by the river though, which means they are very close to home! Yay!

He could just about see the river, a white rippling line in the moonlight surrounded by bushes and trees. It was among these trees that Tsuna had his second encounter with a strange boy...

Actually, in the darkness, it was very impossible to tell whether it was a boy or a man or even a boy at all! Whoever it was, they were leisurely walking parallel to the carriage as though going for a midnight stroll through the woods, seemingly not noticing the carriage on the road. Tsuna wondered why the boy didn't just use the path instead of walking so dangerously close to the river like that...Tsuna could just imagine himself tripping on one of those gigantic tree roots and flying right into the river if that was him!

But the boy (Tsuna decided that with his short, pineapple shaped hair that it must be a boy), was very graceful as he walked, as though there were no trees at all, and did not stumble even once. Tsuna watched him for a long time in silence, with only the clapping of the horses hooves and the rolling of the carriage wheels underneath heard.

He thought about waking his sister or the king twice during the journey, but twice he couldn't pull his eyes away from the stranger. The stranger was very beautiful and dangerous looking, he thought, with his dark hair and white skin and and half-smile on his face. Wait – half-smile? Had that been there before?

Tsuna lifted his head from where it had been resting on his hands to get a better look at the boy who was beginning to be lost from sight in the trees. He would be there one moment, gone the next, like a ghost.

Suddenly he looked straight at Tsuna. Looking directly at him, he smiles slowly, waves a little. Just like the younger boy by the river before, Tsuna thought with a leap of his heart!

Then the boy stopped, bowed at Tsuna through a foliage of leafless trees, and then turned to walk in the opposite direction.

Tsuna was surprised, leaned out of the window to see if he could catch one more glimpse at him – but then the trees stopped abruptly, and they were home.

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Tsuna was very happy to be back at home. He had fallen asleep straight away upon reaching the front gates (as children often do) and woke in the morning in his rightful place on his fathers left, while loosely holding Kyoko's hand as she slept on the right.

He was so happy he didn't move an inch until the king himself woke up. Then he tried to pretend to still be asleep so that the king would not want to move him, but Iemitsu started to poke him in ticklish places, and Tsuna tried hard not to giggle to give himself a way. He cringed harder when the king tickled his feet instead, and he heard Kyoko giggle and give the game away. Tsuna squeaked and started to laugh when the king gave up testing his responses and downright tickled him into the blankets, his right hand to Tsuna and his left with Kyoko. And this was a typical wake -up for the Vongola kingdom. Tsuna had missed this!

Later that day at breakfast, Tsuna told the king and Kyoko about what he had seen the night before.

"Maybe it was a ghost?" Iemitsu said, "you know, a lot of people in the past have wandered into the woods and strayed off the path, and were never seen again. No doubt they haunt the forests now, searching and searching for their lost homes and a way out from their leafy hell..."

Of course, this needlessly scared the little prince out of his wits, to which the passive Kyoko and Basil, the king's second most trusted advisor when the first was away, admonished him for it.

"Maybe it was a dream, Prince Tsuna." Basil said kindly, "you were asleep as you approached the castle, it may never have happened."

Tsuna realized this was true, and that it could very well have been a dream. But what a strange dream! Why would he dream about a ghost in the forest? He had never seen that boy before in his life!

At the table Basil informed the king of matters to do with the kingdom that it was safe for the little royalties to hear. Such as Reborn's early return and then early departure in their absence, no wars to speak of, how the towns people have missed them and so on.

Tsuna was not listening, though, for all he could think about was how strange that boy had been. Thinking about him made him remember a flash of his dream, as some things often do in the mornings. That, too, had been strange, like dreams often were, of the boy by a lake, and a castle and a fountain in the forest, with the moonlight on his smiling face, and on the white white wings of a swan.

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**  
A/N:** Oops! I'm sorry, I guess you guys didn't much like the last chapter, huh? But don't worry, their childhood is only for one chapter more, then I shall breeze through their growth to get to the good bits ^^ But I had a little too much fun with this chapter! I can't wait to meet Mukuro, I wonder what sort of person he will be? Ah! What am I saying? Aren't I the one narrating this story?? Ah, and any requests while they are still young? Kids grow up fast, y'know! Especially in fairy tales.

Thank-you for reading! And for reviewing, oh, you are very kind :)


	5. Vongola

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**Chapter 4: Vongola Kingdom: You will be a king**

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Winter passed, and soon came spring; wherein Hibari turned 11. After came autumn, where Tsuna, Kyoko and Haru all turned 7. Before they knew it, it was summer again; bringing with it the warm sun, yellow flowers, green fields, energetic birds chirping loudly in the trees of the forest and a clear blue sky overhead.

On this fine day the cooks were preparing lunch a little early. The castle was being dusted and cleaned until it shone and the bedrooms re-organized to suit the individual needs of the upcoming guests; and from one of these bedrooms a loud banging could be heard.

"Come on, Tsuna. They'll be here any minute now."

"I think I'm coming down with something. It's probably the chicken pox." Came a voice from behind the door. At this, Kyoko sighed.

"Tsuna you were fine this morning at breakfast; right up to the moment you heard Basil mention that Haru and Hibari were visiting today."

A groan came from the other side of the bedroom door. "Owww, I think I've got food poisoning. My belly aches. Quick, Kyoko, go get the nurse. I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Tsuna you're being silly! What are you so afraid of?"

There was no reply. Kyoko could guess what was wrong, though. "They're not going to do anything to you in your own kingdom, Tsuna. Be a man! You're like a scared little duckling."

"You mean chicken."

"So you want to be a chicken?"

"No! It's just...the last time I saw Hibari..." His words died, as the memories of him waking up in his bed on that first night, of the evil looks Hibari gave him all summer, of the sparring incident came. It was so embarrassing!

"He hates me!" Tsuna said, tears bubbling in his eyes. "He hates me and I hate him!"

"Oh Tsuna, he doesn't hate you."

"He definitely hates me! He wants to kill me! And his sister is like a wild animal. How can you stand being with her?"

"I like Haru. I think she's funny. It's her brother I don't like very much."

"You see? You see? It's not just me, is it? He is a monster!"

"Then you can play with me and Haru this summer, okay? You don't have to feel shy around her. She's really friendly and quite sweet when you get to know her."

There was no reply, but Kyoko could feel her words taking affect. She paused to let him think it over.

"What does it matter whether Hibari hates you or not, anyway?" Kyoko said. "No one else hates you. It's only him." And as an after thought she added: "Maybe he has a crush on you?"

Kyoko heard a chocking sound from the other side of the door before it swung open.

"What are you saying!" Tsuna screeched, blushing. "That's not funny!"

"What are you getting so red about? I was joking, Tsuna. Jo-king!" Kyoko giggled. "Of coarse he doesn't have a crush. You're a boy, aren't you? Now come on! Papa is waiting for us." She grabbed Tsuna's hand and held it as they went down the corridor, all the way to the front gate, where the royal guards were lined up ready to greet the royals from another kingdom.

"Ah, there you are, my cute little children! You've made it just in time. Here they come." The king said. As the twins approached, the black and gold plated carriage of the Namimori kingdom came into view through the trees of the forest. The grey horses brayed as they came to a stop at the gates, and the footman opened the door for the Namimori royalties. First was the queen, who stepped out gracefully dressed in a white and rose floral patterned dress, followed by Haru in green, and Hibari in his usual princely outfit.

"I'm so happy you could come." Greeted the king, as bowed respectfully to the Queen.

"And I'm happy to be here!" smiled the Queen, "My, has it really been more than six years since I last came here?" She said, shielding her eyes from the midday sun as she admired the white walls of the castle. "It is as enchanting as ever. It hasn't changed at all!"

"I'm sure it's thinking the same thing about you, your majesty." The King said as he held out his arm for the Queen to put her hand on. Queen Nana giggled and linked arms with him with a blush, and he guided her into the castle, chatting pleasantly about royal news and how things were.

The children were completely forgotten.

Hibari and Haru glared at their ditsy mother, while Tsuna and Kyoko did it to their hopeless father. They were not so young as to not be aware of what was going on between them, after all.

"It's nice to see you again, Princess Haru, Prince Hibari." Kyoko bowed politely, breaking the awkward silence. "Erm, would you like a tour of the castle?"

"Let's go to your room first, Kyoko!" Haru said. "What sort of dresses does your mother bring you? What sort of toys do you have?"

"Ah, well..."

"Just show me! Let's go." Haru said, before she began pulling Kyoko into the direction of her own kingdom.

"Wa-wai-" Tsuna faltered and was stuck, wanting very much to go with them but knowing that to run away from Hibari right now would be horrible. He himself would hate to be abandoned at the gates of another kingdom!

Haru and Kyoko were gone in a moment, and the two princes were left alone at the front of the castle. The carriage rolled off to the stables behind them. The silence stretched on.

"P-prince Hi-Hi-Hibari, would – would you l-l-like a t-t-t-"

"I never noticed you were a stutter-er." Hibari said. "I should have guessed."

_How cruel! _Thought Tsuna to himself in despair, and opened his mouth to say no, he wasn't a stutter-er...

"Or are you just an idiot?" Hibari said, and Tsuna closed his mouth again in defeat. When Tsuna didn't reply, he merely stared at his own feet before starting to tremble. Hibari walked past him to investigate the Vongola castle by himself without another word.

Tsuna gulped as Hibari walked by and willed himself to follow with a fair distance behind, so as not to be 'bitten' to death. He glanced at Hibari in front of him to see if he had brought any weapons with him into the castle, but all he saw were two strange sticks with handles hanging from his belt.

Not even a sword for a quick and painless death. He had to bring a blunt instrument of torture instead! To break bones and fall painful blows to his victims, no doubt - this demon was a threat to the kingdom!

This was going to be a long summer.

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The main entrance to the Vongola castle was very similar to Hibari's own castle back home. It had the same size and shape, only, built with a lighter shade of rock. Tapestries and banners were colored orange and silver instead of the green and gold of the Namimori kingdom, and more paintings lined the walls, which was understandable since this kingdom was older than the Namimori kingdom, and was known for its art.

To the left was the arch way that led to the large sitting/reading rooms, with grand pianos and bars and bookcases and fireplaces scattered here and there. Then there were kitchens and a few dining rooms (for royalty and servants alike. The smallest could fit thirty people in it easily). There was an armory, a huge library, a science lab, a room for the orchestra, and some rest rooms for the servants, and many more rooms that not even Tsuna knew about.

To the right was a door leading to the royal thrown room/dining hall/ball room; the empty tables and chairs today made it look huge and intimidating. This way also led to the huge servant baths, a herbology room, a small church, an indoor game room for the king and a room full of instruments that had belonged to the late queen. This way too, had many rooms that had yet to be explored by the young Vongola majesties.

As Hibari entered the castle, before him was a large staircase that rose as one then split off into two branches to two sections of the castle. At the top of the stairwell was a large painting of King Iemitsu, Prince Tsuna and Princess Kyoko. Up these stairs were the many bedrooms, bathrooms, more armory, long corridors of paintings and even more sitting rooms, wherein some were plain, others grandly furnished.

Hibari first wandered into the left wing, ignoring the bows and greetings he was getting from the servants and maids. He then went back to the entrance and briefly explored some of the right side of the castle, pausing at the thrown room. Tsuna swallowed and was about to explain where they were, but Hibari merely nodded as though in approval and left to explore more. It was a very brief tour, and after fifteen minutes of exploring downstairs Hibari chose to climb the grand stairway to see the top most part of the castle. All the while Hibari did this, Tsuna followed him.

It wasn't until they'd stopped for the fifth time, this time in a corridor they had been through three times before, that Tsuna felt he should intervene.

"Erm...by any chance...could it be, that you're...that is, Prince Hibari...could you be..."

"Just say it already, herbivore."

"Are you lost?" Tsuna blurted out, instantly regretting his words as the harmless statement left his mouth. He clamped his hands over his mouth as though he'd just uttered a swear word.

"Lost?" Hibari said darkly, "I know exactly where I am."

"Ah, of course you do! How silly of me! I'm sorry!" Tsuna said, relieved that he wasn't about to be bitten for it. Hibari's eyes narrowed.

"I'm getting hungry. Take me to the kitchens." Hibari commanded like a king. Prince Tsuna had no choice but to obey, and nervously took the lead. He felt extremely vulnerable with Hibari behind him and out of his sight, but could not bring himself to slow down to walk beside him either. He was trapped in this horrible situation...

And being trapped in a horrible situation he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, which was a big mistake. In castles you must always pay attention to where you are going, or else you will get yourself lost.

So when Tsuna turned right down a corridor he thought was familiar, and did not recognize the paintings or the tapestries lining the walls, he got nervous.

"Oh! Er...I think it's this way..." he mumbled, and shakily walked back on himself, keeping his eyes firmly on the orange carpeted floor as he passed by Hibari, and tried to go back the way he had come. Unfortunately he took another wrong turn in his confusion, and found himself in yet another strange corridor. Confused, he dithered on the spot for a moment, and then thought he saw a suit of armor angled in a familiar way on the other end of the corridor. Its helmet was tilted up and its hand was attached completely the wrong way. "Ah, maybe it's this way, then!" he murmured with relief, and practically ran to the other end of the corridor in order to escape the tense atmosphere he and Hibari were walking under.

Unfortunately, they came to a dead end. There was no right turn around here. Tsuna could not stop the tears of frustration and fear and disappointment welling up into his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Hibari snapped, "Are YOU lost?"

Hibari regretted saying that when he heard the whining, choking noise that came from the little prince in front of him. 'Oh my god,' he thought in shock. 'Is he...crying?'

"P-please d-d-don't b-b-bite me to d-d-death, Hi-ba-ri!" Tsuna gasped, crying quietly.

At least it wasn't the uncontrollable wailing of last year, Hibari thought with distaste. Instead Tsuna was looking up at him with his little face and big brown eyes glazed with tears. They welled up and fell in thick streaks down his cheeks, though he tried to wipe them away as they formed. He was breathing harshly and hiccupping, and wasn't making a lot of noise; but still...

"Perhaps I should just kill you now while no one is around to save you." He said quietly, approaching Tsuna with deliberate slowness, like a predator approaching its prey. Tsuna stiffened in response, his eyes widening in fear, sensing the danger. "It would save this country from its downfall. What are you so afraid of, herbivore?"

"I-I-I'm lost," Tsuna stammered, "I've never been here before, and you have those weapons with you, and no doubt you are hungry and angry with me-ACK!"

Hibari suddenly grabbed him roughly by the collar of this shirt, lifting him off the ground a little. "Pathetic." He hissed, his nose almost touching Tsuna's. "You are not worth biting."

He let him fall and glared at Tsuna for a moment. Tsuna's childish face was crumpled up in such a way that it made Hibari even angrier. Why should he be allowed to cry, he thought, when he himself has never been able to?

"You are everything I hate in a person." _Stab_. "What are you crying for? Fear of getting hurt? Fear of being lost? Weak. Pathetic."_ Stab __**stab**_. "You will be a king! One day you will be law and discipline. You will have wars to fight. There will be a kingdom to protect, a name to defend. You will be the strength of the people. You will be the person they need to guide them, to lead them, when they themselves are lost. And what will they find when they look up to you? That you are crying like a child?"

"I'm seven years old!"

"No excuses."

"But I AM a child!"

"Then you have plenty of time to make yourself worthy of this kingdom, starting from now."

"And if you don't, then that would be my job." A voice said.

Hibari turned around slowly from the cowering child to see a man, probably about the same age as Dino, standing with his arms folded beside two others. To his left, there was a skinny blond haired boy with big teeth and an awkward standing position. To his right was a man with long silvery hair down to his waist and a scowl. The one who spoke was strangest of all, with spiky black hair, feathers and his trademark scars that made  
everyone know him at sight.

"Uncle Xanxus!" Cried Tsuna, eyes widening and quickly scrambling to hide behind Hibari. "Wha-wha-what are you doing here?"

"OIII! That's OUR line, your fucking _highness._" Squalo growled.

"This is my part of the kingdom, and your gutless whining just woke me up. You ready for that fight to the death you promised me, brat?"

"N-no! I never- I never promised something like tha-"

"I can't believe the next king is going to be a weak little shit like you. When your dad was your age, he was dodging bullets."

_Lies! _Thought Tsuna. _He's just after an excuse to kill me!_

"Un-Uncle Xanxus, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you, b-but we got lost a-a-and-"

"And who the fuck are you?" Xanxus snapped, noticing the other kid glaring at him for the first time.

Hibari narrowed his eyes to a slit at the insulting language. In response he pulled out his new weapons and held them tight in his grip in warning. "I don't have to answer to a monkey like you. You would do well to talk a little quieter and respect your superiors."

Tsuna gasped childishly and clamped a hand over his mouth. Xanxus scowled, his face darkened. "What was that, you piece of trash? Fucking respect? That shrimp? You? Are you fucking insane?"

"Oii, I think he wants to die today, boss."

"Shut up, Squalo. You're looking for a fight and you've fucking got one."And with that, Xanxus pulled out two weapons that were unique only to him. Magic swords, Tsuna called them, where upon one fiery shot in the right place brought about instant death.

"No!" Tsuna shrieked, as the first gun went off, pinging off Hibari's weapon where it hadn't moved. "Run away, Hibari! If his guns hit you then you'll die!"

"Guns?" Hibari muttered the foreign word and dodged the next two shots fired at him by ducking and swiftly moving forward for a close range attack, bringing his tonfa down in a swift cracking motion.

Xanxus wasn't expecting to miss the second time, so the attack from below came as a surprise that very nearly crippled him, if he hadn't stepped back in time. The tonfa hit only his hand, but sent one of his guns flying and broke a few fingers in the process.

While Hibari was spinning to send another deadly blow to the chest Xanxus grabbed the sword hanging from Squalo's belt and stopped him with a sharp clang of steel on steel.

Obviously stronger than the eleven year old, Xanxus got the upper hand and sent him stumbling back; but from years of combating Dino the smaller boy knew his weaknesses and his strengths against older men, and didn't hesitate to duck and deliver a devastating blow to Xanxus knees...

Which didn't land, as Xanxus jumped just in time and simultaneously aimed to kick the prince in the head instead. Hibari tilted his head to have the boot go whistling past his ear, and then he brought up his tonfa to strike Xanxus from below while he was still in the air from the kick and vulnerable.

The strike hit Xanxus on the chin, snapping his head back in a painful CRACK. Another blow followed to the stomach as he landed with a stumble. The blow was not strong enough to do real damage at his age, but the tonfa still sent him breathless and stumbling, when suddenly another merciless blow descended from the heavens to his face - and missed, as he dodged instinctively to the side. Hibari had made the mistake of aiming for somewhere beyond easy reach, causing him to go slightly off-balance when it didn't hit his target. Xanxus took that as a chance and sent a devastating punch to the boys kidneys- while simultaneously getting hit with Hibari's other tonfa in his other hand. Xanxus' strength was being used against him in such a way that the weapon broke his nose in a spray of red and sent him crashing to the ground seeing stars; his only consolation being the sound of Hibari thudding to the ground too.

Quick to avoid another unexpected attack, Xanxus rolled over and stood up, breathing heavily and wiping the blood flowing from his nose with his sleeve. Hibari was still on the floor, clutching his stomach and breathing heavily.

Xanxus watched him for a moment, then slowly walked towards him and picked up his forgotten gun lying beside him with his good hand and aimed it at Hibari's head with a click.

"NO!" Tsuna screamed and scrambled in front of Hibari, practically throwing himself onto him. "Don't shoot!" He cried shrilly, his childish voice hysterical in his attempt not to cry.

"-the fuck?" Xanxus panted, "You think I'm not gonna shoot just 'cuz_ you're_ standing in the way? Are you fucking retarded?" He re-aimed to the part of Hibari he could still see. "That brat tried to fucking kill me!"

"If you shoot him I'll kill you." Tsuna screamed, shaking like a leaf. "YOU started it, Xanxus, not him, and Hibari is a prince, just like me. What will father say?"

Xanxus stared at the boy for long time. He wiped his nose again and leaned against the wall, starting to feel the pain in his other hand, and finally starting to see sense.

"Prince Hibari, huh?" He said gruffly, and braced himself as he took hold of his nose and set it right with a snap of bone and a screech from Tsuna. He flinched and blinked the tears from his eyes, before looking at the two princes. Hibari was glaring at him with sharp eyes, ready for another round, while Tsuna looked up at him with wide watery ones.

"Not bad, kid." He grumbled ambiguously, and put his gun back into the holster on his hip. "I need a fucking drink." He growled, and pushed himself off the wall to march down the corridor anddisappear into a door to his right. Squalo glanced at the two on the floor, nodded at them and followed after him.

The sound of the door closing behind him echoed in the silence.

Tsuna stared at the now empty corridor for a long while, not quite believing what just happened. Then he remembered Hibari had been hurt and quickly spun round to see if he was alright.

"Hibari..." but he was already on his feet, sliding his tonfas back into his belt with slow movements. He made no sign that he was in any amount of pain, despite the punch that would have knocked any grown man unconscious.

Then without a word he walked back the way they had come. Tsuna had no choice but to follow.

Tsuna knew that Hibari was a force to be reckoned with. His strength was certainly something to fear. He had proved that with his fight with one of the strongest fighters in the Vongola kingdom. And with that one meeting, Tsuna felt that Hibari had gotten what he wanted from Xanxus. Something had clicked between the two, he could feel it. An understanding of sorts. Respect? Maybe. Whatever it was, Hibari had been recognized as the king-to-be he was.

And from this meeting Prince Tsuna, aged seven and a half, learned strength.

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**A/N: **I have a beta now ^^ so thanks to Here'sYourCheeseOmelette for fixing the annoying bits of the fic that I couldn't see! And also a special thanks to a reviewer of the last chapter, ThreeWayDart, who inspired this one. I really couldn't resist the whole 'Hibari and Tsuna get lost in the castle' concept x) Once again I got carried away with it, because I'm an idiot, but a lot of the stuff had to happen for the plot anyways. Like getting to know the castle and HIbari's fighting style and whatnot. I'll shut up now, and thank you for your patience, and than-you for reading and of coarse for reviewing :)


	6. Vongola 2

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Vongola kingdom**

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"Let's have a bath together, Tsuna, Kyoko!" Exclaimed the king, arms spread wide.

The royalties were currently sitting around the fireplace in one of the living rooms of the castle. It was getting dark outside, and after supper they had chatted for a while. From their seats on the plush royal carpet infront of the fire place, Tsuna and Kyoko both looked up at their father at the same time. Then started to stand up in a silent yes.

Haru noticed this and gasped. "Kyoko, you are going to have one too?"

Kyoko nodded in slight confusion.

"But you are nearly eight!" Haru exclaimed, "You are getting too old for such things. Aren't you a women and a princess?"

"Oh Haru, that sort of thing doesn't matter between family." Smiled the queen, "You, Hibari and myself used to take baths together all the time, remember?"

"Ah, you've said too much, Nana," King Iemitsu joked with a lamenting voice, and the Queen just laughed.

"No," Haru said, shaking her head, "Hibari is a man, and I am a princess. I shall not be seen by any man, not even my brother, other than my husband. I decided."

The queen laughed and kissed her cheek in response.

"Strong words, Haru. You've been raised well. I take it Haru won't be joining us then." The king said laughingly, and then turned to leave. "Come on then, my cute little children. We've had a long day..."

Tsuna went to follow but felt Kyoko let go of his hand. She looked like she was wondering about something for a moment. Then she sat back down beside Haru. "Not tonight, Papa. I think I shall have one with Haru tonight."

Tsuna stared at his sister. For some reason, he suddenly didn't like Haru even more than before.

"Haha, you too, Kyoko?" The king seemed un-fazed. "Then, how about you, Hibari? The men shall have a bath together! Come on!"

"I prefer to bathe myself in private, King Iemitsu." Said the prince, standing.

"But this is true manly bonding! There's no need to be shy! Come on, Hibari, you are starting to smell" he said, clapping Hibari on the back and leading him towards the stairs.

Hibari had to grit his teeth to refrain from giving the King of another country a reflexive blow to the head.

As he was making his way to the royal bath house, Tsuna couldn't believe that he was about take a bath with the demon prince, Hibari. His father had seen him naked many times, and it did not phase him in the least – but Hibari? He would surely laugh at him. Or bite him to death when he felt most vulnerable. Would he take his new weapons with him into the baths? It was hard to tell. And so it was for this reason that he undressed quickly, and dived into the large steaming ready-made bath before Hibari could see his butt.

Tsuna was a little surprised when he saw Hibari.

He felt a little less afraid of him now.

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And thus, on that first night time at the Vongola kingdom, the King unintentionally established a bathing ritual in which Tsuna and Hibari got to see each other naked on a daily basis.

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It was later on that very night, while on his way to his room having only just dried off from the bath, that Hibari saw something strange.

The corridors were lit with the soft glow of candles lined up on the walls, casting shadows from the suits of armor, and from the tapestries hanging from the ceiling. This corridor was lined with many paintings of various sizes, framed in gold. Most of them were of swans on the river. Swans in the sunset, swans resting on the river bank, a group of them being fed by a kitchen boy...Hibari took his time walking down this particular corridor. He quite liked birds. Although swans were not his favorite type, Hibari thought that they were certainly the most majestic and most beautiful. The purest of birds.

Perhaps the king liked swans, he decided.

He came to the last painting and was about to hurry on to his room when he heard a familiar voice. He stopped himself from turning the corner at the sound. It was Tsuna's voice, and he sounded distressed. Whiney, Hibari corrected in his head. Typical herbivore behavior. The child was complaining to somebody. Hibari was about to carry on his way round the corner when he heard his name.

"-is fault. I knew it would end up like this. I shall be stuck with him all summer – and did I mention that he carries a new weapon now? And he is yet to take them off! He did in the bath, though. Just now. Kyoko didn't join us today, though. Haru...Haru said that Kyoko was...she said she was a princess, and that she was too old, and men can't...or something like that." There was a pause. "Did I mention that Hibari has new weapons to hit me with? He nearly did today, too! But...but then Uncle Xanxus came. And...and they fought. Hibari is...very strong. He's so strong, Mother! You wouldn't believe it!"

Hibari was surprised. He had assumed that there was no longer a queen, as he had never heard anything of her at his own kingdom. He had yet to meet such an important person – so at this point he silently looked around the corner to identify the person Tsuna was talking to. Understanding dawned on him at what he saw.

Tsuna was sitting cross-legged on the floor, wearing a swan-white night-gown, facing a painting on the wall. From his angle Hibari could not see what it was of, but he did not need to see it to know that it was a picture of Tsuna's mother.

Further down the corridor, to his surprise, he saw King Iemitsu standing half-hidden behind what must have been his own royal bedroom door. And for the first time he saw a solemn expression on the kings face that was not lost to Hibari's sharp eyes in the candle light. He was watching Hibari quietly, before nodding his head in silent acknowledgment and closing his door.

"...I wonder if you have ever met Xanxus?" Tsuna continued, "I don't know whether I told you about him before...but he is strong, too. He has black hair, and scars on his face like this...and feathers and..."

"Your majesty," whispered a voice. Hibari jumped at the hand on his shoulder, and spun to see a familiar face that he had seen around the castle. Basil gestured for Hibari to follow him.

Hibari hesitated, then quickly decided that Tsuna was having a private conversation, in a way, and didn't want to intrude. The man-servant/Nanny to Tsuna and Kyoko, as far as Hibari could assert from his previous meeting with the man that morning, led him further down the corridor that he had just walked through. He bowed respectfully.

"I apologize for having thee wait, your majesty, but I ask that thee refrain from listening to young majesties' prayers." Basil said quietly, "they are, I feel, a private matter. Not even the King will listen to them."

Hibari had guessed as much. He did not say anything in response and instead looked at the paintings again while he waited. Basil followed his gaze and glanced at the pictures also, and smiled.

"The Queen loved to paint. I think that his Majesty likes to keep them here, where he can see them every morning, to start off his day."

Hibari was surprised. So these pictures were the art of royalty. Paintings by the queen. He looked back onto the pictures with renewed interest. The one of the kitchen boy feeding the swans caught his interest...

"Do you like that one?" Hibari felt the man approach, "I remember that day. Her majesty was very kind to me. She was a slow painter, though...I ended up standing there for hours."

"That is you in the painting?"

The servant nodded.

"Does he speak to a picture of his mother every night?" Hibari asked.

Basil didn't reply straight away. "Yes...every night. Though usually only to say a few words about his day. Saying that, it is not unusual for him to sit before her majesty and speak to her so freely, like tonight."

Hibari quirked an eyebrow. "I should think it is very unusual."

"Yes...well, we thought so too, the first time he spoke to her. It started last September, on their majesties return from the Namimori kingdom. Ever since, and every night since then, Prince Tsuna has spoken to the picture as though it were alive.

Their majesties never knew their mother, after all. I suppose that after spending the summer with the lovely Queen Nana, he had started to ask questions about his own. He had shown little interest before, since he was happy, and had no reason to question the lack of a mother.

Princess Kyoko still seems fine with it. She is care free by nature, and perhaps a little stronger in spirit, much like her father. Her brother, on the other hand, Prince Tsuna...he, well...there are some things that a father can not do, which applies even more so for a king."

Hibari didn't reply for a long time. The corridor rang with Basil's words, and seemed to stir thoughts in Hibari's head like a loose tooth he'd been trying to ignore. "I think he has finished." He declared in the silence.

"...yes, yes I think so too." Basil replied. He bowed to the prince, "It was a pleasure speaking with you, your majesty."

Hibari nodded his head in acknowledgment of the bow, then walked back down the corridor for a third time. This time as he turned the corner he met no voice, and sure enough the hallway was empty. Curiously he stood before the painting of the queen.

She looked...a little like his own mother, Hibari thought. The wide eyes were blue, though, and the hair was longer.

He reached out and touched the painted hands of Tsuna's mother.

"...something a king...can not do?" He murmured. He took a step back and bowed respectfully, before continuing down the corridor as he was before.

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Tsuna had been lying a wake in bed for a while now.

"Kyoko?"

"Hmmm."

"...nevermind."

"What is it, Tsuna?"

"Are you- are you and Haru...I mean, today...the bath...you, your not going to...wash with me and Papa anymore?"

For a long time his sister didn't say anything. Tsuna felt like he wanted to cry.

"I will still bathe with you and papa, Tsuna."

Tsuna looked at her, eyes wide through the darkness.

"But...only with you and Papa. No Hibari. No Haru around...okay?"

"Yes! That's okay." Tsuna beamed, and snuggled up to his sister in relief.

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So, as you can see, the first summer spent at the Vongola kingdom castle was an eventful one. What with the getting lost, the fighting, the bath times and such. It was also not what Hibari and Haru had been expecting.

The most obvious difference to the Namimori royalties was something they could not understand even now: the way everybody knew everybody. And not just in the castle between servants and royalty. For at some point in the beginning they had visited the Vongola kingdom's village, and the greeting was very different from that of Namimori.

The king greeted shop keepers, men going about their daily work, the farmers, the fishers, the tradesmen and pensioners, cobbler, schoolteacher, postman and publican, the undertaker and the fancy woman, young girls and young men, drunkard, dressmaker, preacher, policeman, the webfoot cocklewomen and the tidy wives; pretty much everyone, the king addressed like old friends, and introduced them all.

"That's quite a big family you've got there all of a sudden, your majesty!" laughed one with no hair.

"The twins look more a like each time I see them! What is with that?" joked a younger one with a pointy nose.

"And these are the children of Queen Nana?" Said freckle-faced, "But the Namimori Queen is so young! How is this possible?"

"Isn't it obvious, men? A queen will only grow more beautiful with age. The same goes for kings too, of coarse."

The queen laughed happily along with the men, and was warmly welcomed by the Vongola people.

"Hey, Prince Hibari, is it? Such a serious face! Is the sun too bright for you? You're squinting quite badly."

_No,_ thought Tsuna with a shudder, glancing up at the dark look Hibari was giving the cheerful bearded man. _He's just thinking of ways to kill you._

There seemed to be more people crowding the main road, so the carriage had to wait outside the village while the King led the way to the sushi place that they were to eat that – the King's favorite quick food place that also sold the best sake.

"It's not just that, but the chief there has lost his son." Whispered King Iemitsu to Nana on there way there. "He would be Tsunas age by now, and I get the impression that he likes to see him now and again. See how he has grown and whatnot..." So they visited the sushi bar for their royal lunch.

When the village children came to play with them, they gathered around them like a new toy. Kyoko's best friend was a girl called Hana, who seemed to hate all children their age except for Kyoko. Since everybody was so friendly it was extremely noisy and crowded in the Vongola village. Hibari hated it so much that he actually couldn't speak. Hana decided that the Namimori prince was not that bad, either.

The village children were dirty from playing so hard that day in the sun, but that didn't stop Haru from going off to play with them. She was never shy to begin with, and was a princess after all.

The Roku river actually flowed through parts of this village, and on summer days like this children played in the shallow parts of the water in the sun. They did not hesitate to take off their shirts and shoes and jump in for a swim and to catch the little fish that could sometimes be found.

Further down in the deepest and fastest flowing part was the royal vongola bridge, and further down still was the sea, where fishing boats and the market place lined a part of the shore.

It was a very busy, heady hot day in the Vongola kingdom. People were everywhere, noise and buzzing movement filled the atmosphere with vibrant colors, bursting with life. The royalties past a band playing by the bridge by the river, and of coarse the king asked the queen for a dance. And of coarse she said yes.

Children played, people bustled about, laughing, working, dancing, chatting...Hibari hated it, Tsuna loved it. Hibari frowned and said nothing, and Tsuna smiled and sat to watch everybody. They sat by side by side on the bank of the river.

They both failed to realize that they seemed to have found something in common between them. Notice the way that neither of them knew how to join in.

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Now, because Hibari would call the whole thing 'weak', the prince failed to see how much power the king had over his subjects, because of this kindness towards them. Their loyalty and devotion. Nana,on the other hand, adored him for it, and had fallen quite in love with him.

Not knowing this, and having no one else to turn to, Hibari that night had confided in his mother in her bedroom. It was quite a lengthy rant. The queen had not heard her son speak for so long about one thing for as long as she could remember. He was pacing restlessly as he spoke. He must really be passionate about this, she thought.

"...and what are we doing here, mother? He behaves so carelessly and has no respect from his kingdom. They have tainted Haru into playing with those village children even though she is royalty. The king is always crossing the line, letting his children do as they please, and his emotions are easy to read and, mother!" He stopped pacing and spun to face the queen. "That man is not a king!"

Nana did her best not to betray her amusement to the little prince with a smile, and for a while she said nothing. Then, quietly:"Is that what you truly feel, Hibari?"

"...It is." Said the defiant prince.

"...Oh Hibari," sighed the queen, "you are still just a child. One day, you'll see. Prince Tsuna will become a great king in the future."

Hibari stared at his clueless mother. Was that a joke?

"And you both get along so nicely, too. I can't wait for the future of our kingdoms! Now come and give your mother a hug."

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Hibari felt very lost and frustrated. And it wasn't just because he was relaxing at the tallest tower of the castle, which he had found by accident (and therefore was not sure how to get back to the main rooms). No, Hibari was frustrated because there was absolutely noone who understood him, or would listen to sense. Not his servants or his sister or his own mother... "just a child" she says, "a great king" she calls him, "now give me a hug" !

Hibari had indeed given his mother her hug, and had let her kiss him goodnight before retreating to his own room, only hearing the faint murmurings of Tsuna talking to his own mother as he walked down the corridors.

A great king. Him. That bug-eyed little herbivore with the crazy hair-do.

What did Hibari usually do when he was frustrated? Oh yes, he sparred. This cloud gazing from the roof of the castle wasn't doing him as much good as he thought it would. The bird song had been nice, but they did him little good when he was in such a foul mood.

With that he stood up with the intention of finding his way to the Vongola's sparring ground somehow, when in surprise he turned round to see Tsuna appear at the door, the moment he stood.

Tsuna looked shocked to see Hibari. and Hibari wondered if he had been followed. He narrowed his eyes and drew his tonfa:

"I will-"

"AAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tsuna screamed, and he quickly turned around to run away, but only succeeded in running into the door and closing it sharply with his face with a mighty crack. Rubbing his nose with tears in his eyes, Tsuna tried to open it, and found with heart-stopping terror that he couldn't. The door would not budge. It was wedged closed!

Breathing heavily like a trapped little animal, Tsuna shrunk down and curled up, waiting for the eminent attack from behind.

And come it did.

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When Tsuna regained consciousness, he saw the blue sky and white clouds, with bird song all around him, and the warm sun kissing his face. Hibari killed him, he thought, and he'd gone to heaven. No way! He was just kid! That devil!

Sitting up slowly, he looked for his mother.

"You're alive."

"WHA-!" Tsuna scrambled away from the cold voice in reflex, and saw Hibari sitting there staring at him with cool eyes.

"Why did you follow me?" Hibari said. Tsuna didn't reply, like a rabbit frozen in terror, about to be eaten by a wolf. Hibari raised his weapon, "If you don't answer me, I _will _kill you..."

"Ahh, don't hit me! It hurts!" Tsuna wailed, rubbing his suddenley throbbing head. Feeling it, he wasn't dead after all. Though facing Hibari now, he almost wished he was. "I didn't follow anybody! I just felt like coming up here for some reason! I don't know why!"

Hibari drew closer, "liar."

"Noooo! It's the truth! I would never follow you, Hibari! You'd kill me!"

Hibari studied his frightened face for a while to determine the truth. Tsuna waited for his sentence to be passed as a prisoner would wait for their execution date. He sensed that his excuse was a weak one, and searched his scrambled brain for a better one to save him from death, but his head was full of irritating bird song. Ah! The birds!

"The birds!" Tsuna exclaimed, as though having had a eureka moment. At Hibari's darkening expression from his random outburst, Tsuna hastily added "I came to listen to them!"

Hibari's eyes wandered to the trees below, and slid over to Tsuna's little face testily. "You like birds?"

"Y-yes...I mean...I...yes?" Tsuna suddenly thought that maybe Hibari hated them, and would kill him for saying he liked them. Or maybe he would detect the lie and hit him anyway. Tsuna began to doubt that he would come out of this alive.

"That man from before." Hibari said, lowering his weapons. Tsuna felt his head swim with relief. Now all he had to do was not make him angry before his father came looking for him. Wait...what?

"Huh?"

"The monkey. With the guns."

"Ah, you mean Xanxus!" _How random._ "Oh, please, don't call him a monkey, Hibari. It will only make him mad if he finds out..."

"I was not aware that the king had any siblings."

"Well, they are not brothers by blood. Xanxus was adopted into the Vongola family by Grandpa Tim. He has always lived in his own part of the kingdom. I never even knew where it was until that day we met him..." Tsuna shuddered at the memory.

"So, if you and your twin died, would that make him to next in line to the Vongola kingdom?"

"Ah! Well, I ever thought of it that way, but yes. I guess...you are right."

"I see." Hibari said.

Tsuna suddenly realized this is the first conversation he has ever had with Hibari without being scared of getting bitten to death. Hibari turned his back to Tsuna and sat facing his surroundings once again. Tsuna took this as a precious opportunity to try and escape, and began fiercely pulling and pushing the wedged door, which would not budge an inch under his weight. He would have called for help, but one glance at the settled Hibari told him that if he did call for help, that call would be his last.

So, for a long time, Tsuna had no choice but to sit in silence beside the prince.

Tsuna was beginning to feel starving. He got up to try the door again, when finally Hibari spoke,"What makes a strong kingdom?"

Tsuna had jumped a foot into the air at the first syllable. How unexpected!

"Discipline installed into it's people..." Hibari turned to face Tsuna, and he saw a cold look there, "by a strong king. Hence the word 'king' in 'kingdom'."

"...But wouldn't that make your kingdom a 'queen-dom,' since it is ruled by a queen?"

Hibari's eyes narrowed to a slit.

"I-I agree with you, Hibari! A kingdom needs a strong king, or queen, but...it is not only the king that makes a good kingdom." At Hibari's silence, Tsuna took it as a cue to continue. "A strong kingdom has a kind and understanding king, who would know what is best for the people living there. If a king were to die, it is not the end of the kingdom as a whole. What makes a kingdom is it's people...not just the King"

For one so young his little speech would have been impressive, had it not been for the whiny grumble that sounded from his stomach as he finished. Tsuna blushed.

After a still moment, Hibari stood up, pulled out his tonfa and walked straight at Tsuna. Thinking that he had surely crossed some invisible line and was about to be beaten, Tsuna squeezed his eyes closed ready for the assault. Instead he heard a resounding crack and the sighing of hinges. He peeked over the fingers covering his eyes to see Hibari standing there, exit before him.

"We shall see what makes the best kingdom. Your kindness, or my discipline. Still," Hibari said, without smiling, "a king should at least be capable of opening a door."

He disappeared. Tsuna blushed, then ran after him. He didn't know the way back to the main dining room, after all.

As it turned out, Hibari didn't either.

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**A/N:** Sorry about the wait...next chapter _'Growing up with you'_ will be ready for next week (it's already written, just needs editing ^^) thank-you for your patience :)


	7. Growing up

**A/N: **_Music that compliments this particular chapter: Yiruma's 'ways going to school', (can be found on youtube) man I love that music :)_

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_**Growing up with you**

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And so, every June through to September the royal majesties spent their summers at each others kingdoms.

They had many adventures together, and soon got very used to each others company. Their lives in their fairy tale castles were full of stories to tell, and their en devours fluttered and buzzed through the royal subjects. Gossip and news was never in short supply, and flew fast through the castles servants and maids.

The royal musicians could remember a time when Princess Haru had organized an entire masquerade ball all by herself, aged nine.

The royal artist would fondly think back to the job of painting the four young majesties. Of coarse, Haru could not sit still for very long, and Hibari hated being told what to do: least of all the stay in one place, bored as he was, hand on the shoulder of the male herbivore. In the end, after a whole week of this, the artist was payed generous amount of money by the cheerful King for his efforts, and became a very rich and happy man for the rest of his days.

The royal maids could recall a time when a royal cat had brought home a little yellow bird, and had dropped it at poor little Tsuna's feet. It was only a baby and had fit perfectly in the cats mouth because of it's tiny size, so the teeth didn't kill it, though it was obviously injured. Tsuna panicked and wrapped it up in a handkerchief, but the first servant he asked to care for it only shook his head sadly and went to drown it. A young kitchen maid witnessed him about to hold it under a bucket of water, when out of nowhere Hibari appeared and brutally smashed the mans head sideways.

The maid ran over and was frightened to death by the amount of blood pooling from the innocent servants head injury. Did this man, who was only doing a kind deed, deserve the death sentence for doing his job? It was barbaric! Miraculously that servant had survived to serve another day, though the workers of Vongola were never the same again around that boy.

Even more miraculous, it would seem, given the shocking display of Hibari's true nature that day, occurred the following summer, when Tsuna greeted Hibari while staring curiously at the little yellow face peering down at him from the taller princes shoulder. "Hey, isn't that the bird we saved?" Tsuna exclaimed. "He's taken a liking to you!" The bird immediately flew into Tsuna's nest-like hair, and there it stayed all summer, until Hibari called to it in a low voice, and the bird returned to it's owner without hesitation. "Couldn't you have done that from the start?!" Tsuna cried, "I will be picking feathers from my hair for weeks!"

The vicar could tell you of Hibari and Kyoko, (such a wonderful couple), and their wonderful choir voices. Tsuna and Haru, he had hastily added, were tone deaf. ("Off with his head!" Haru had yelled.)

The royal person-who-designed-special-clothes-for-royalty-to-wear knew how Haru loved to play dress up, and made many outfits and out landish costumes just for her, and put on whole theater plays for her viewing pleasure – though she preferred to be in them than watching them. He recalled a day when she had managed to get Hibari as a knight, Tsuna as an angel, Kyouko as a devil and herself as a cat in the strangest play the kingdom had ever seen, which turned out to be a huge success with the village children.

During the odd rainy spell during the summer, which occurred at this part of the kingdom, the young majesties would play games inside the castle. Board games, hide and seek, stuck-in-the-mud, servants and maids...as they got older, they found other ways to entertain themselves.

Fuuta would sometimes play chess with them. Tsuna was a terrible, always taking forever to make a move. "The aim of the game is to win, not to save pieces." Haru prompted during their first game together. Tsuna finally made a move. "Congratulations, Tsuna. I am now one hundred years old." She said, then "Checkmate."

Needless to say as soon as Fuuta had taught them the rules, Hibari turned out to be very talented, though he found the game boring most days. Kyoko was surprisingly a good match for him, and often won against him. Although Haru was a good player, she liked to easily win over Tsuna, so the pairing usually ended up this way.

The cooks most memorable incident in the Namimori castle had been the direct result of Bianchi, the royal apprentice witch (and cook) who was always experimenting with new potions and recipes, and often got them mixed up. Most of them turned out to be poison, to be bottled up and used on future enemies, or else used to bring about illness as punishment within the kingdom (few could look at a plate of cookies the same way again in the Namimori kingdom), but also there was some real magic in a few of her concoctions, and one of them, under certain circumstances, somehow managed to turn Tsuna into a frog.

"How are we going to fix this?" Kyoko cried, "he can't stay like this forever, Bianchi! You have to turn my brother back!"

"Hmm...but I like him this way." said Hibari.

"Me too." Bianchi said. "Very cute. He could be a witch's toad."

"But he's a frog! Please, Bianchi, what would our father say?"

"EwwWWW!" Haru said, returning with the glass of water she'd been sent to fetch. "Kyoko how can you touch that thing? It's disgusting!"

"What do you mean, it's my brother! Bianchi, please? Change him back."

"Hmm...well, I guess I could get started on a reverse spell, but that could take weeks...months, even. The quickest way to break transformation spells in this day and age is with a kiss."

"Oh! Is that it?" Kyoko said, "well, if that's all there is to it..." and she went to kiss her brother the frog.

"Not by you, Kyoko. You're his blood. It won't work. It has to be the kiss from someone who is related to him by something stronger than blood, who truly loves him."

"Stronger than blood? True love? He' s twelve years old! He doesn't have a one true love yet!"

"Then, he'll have to wait a while. Let's take the Frog Prince to his new home in the garden, there's a pond with plenty of other frogs for him to make friends with..."

"But, but..." Kyoko held the little frog close to her heart, then offered him to Haru pleadingly. "Haru, please give it a try. Don't you love him?"

"AHH! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Haru squealed, knocking Tsuna the frog right out of Kyoko's hands, sending him flying through the air at top speeds with Kyoko and Haru's cries resounding in his head. After that, everything happened so quickly that it's blurry in every bodies memories...for the prince landed with a splat on Hibari's face. Everyone gasped, and then the frog suddenly turned back into a Tsuna, and Hibari fell backwards under the sudden weight that appeared on his face.

And so it came about that Prince Tsuna lay naked on the clothed Prince Hibari's body, his little white bum sticking up cheerfully for all the world to see.

A young kitchen boy witnessed the whole thing, so that the whole kingdom knew about it by morning, including the suspicious conversation that followed:

"I can't believe you just threw me across the room like that. I could have easily died from the force of it!"

"Lucky Hibari caught you with his face then, eh?"

"I thought it was only a kiss from a loved one that could turn you back, Bianchi?"

"Yes well, I am only practicing these spells. It's possible it simply wore off at the very moment Tsuna's body touched Hibari's lips."

"..."

It was very strange indeed. Apparently Tsuna, whose memories were jumbled like a dream from his time as a frog, and could only remember the sensation of flying and hitting something just before he regained consciousness, and only knew of what occurred from everyone's descriptions. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness again, was Hibari's face red with fury, and then a sharp pain to his ear and the side of his head.

Tsuna was to stay in bed for a few days after, as there was still a green tinge to Tsuna's body, and he had terribly dry skin. He drink a lot of water after that, and suddenly became highly distracted whenever a fly was in the room. The effects wore off after a while, though the sharp sting of humiliation was to last for the rest of his days.

That particular memory served as a potent reminder for the cooks to pay close attention to Bianchi and her 'recipes'.

Xanxus and his friends made appearances over the years, always doing their level best to murder the heir to the thrown. The most shocking aspect of the attacks, though, was not the traitorous acts of the uncle towards the nephew, or even the off-handed chuckles the King would give as a response to those attacks – the most surprising aspect of the assassination attempts was that Prince Hibari saved Tsuna every time, muttering that "anyone but that monkey would be a good king." Tsuna was always somewhat happy to hear that, as it was the nicest thing Hibari had ever said to him.

Tsuna hated to study. Hibari was always reading, so it didn't matter whether he studied or not. No one could tell if he was just a genius who didn't need to prove it or just as stupid as Tsuna. Haru was very intelligent though, and Kyoko was pretty clever too.

Kyoko was very charming, and stole many of the boy servants hearts with her kindness towards them, accepting their gifts of flowers and trinkets they'd brought. She was very mature for her age, and very sweet and quiet. Shamal often had to be beaten away from her by Hibari, not wanting to witness such inappropriate behavior in his kingdom. But of coarse, the rest of the castle, including Tsuna, took it as another way.

"Hibari really loves Kyoko, huh?" he thought to himself, and wondered why he sounded so sad when he said that. Haru just shrugged in response. "She is very cute." Haru said one day, "and my brother likes little cute things. Haven't you seen his bird house yet? Hibird has been busy this summer."

"...Oh." Tsuna said in response, and agreed to let Haru show him Hibari's bird house.

The blacksmiths would always remember the annual sword play tournament in the village, which Hibari would participate in every year from the age of nine, and won since the age of ten. It was after having won one of those tournaments that the King chose to teach Hibari a little extra sword play technique of his own, and to have a taste of his fighting style. Unsurprisingly the King won, though the fight had been fast and furious, and had turned the other sword competitors pale with fear and respect for the King and the prince.

Later, when everyone had left to congratulate the other competitors, Iemitsu went to report to Dino, Hibari's personal trainer and spar partner. "That boy – given a few years, will become the best swordsman I have ever seen." Said the King.

"Yeah, I've thought so too. Coming from you, though – that's quite the achievement." Dino replied cheerfully.

The king nodded somewhat seriously. "He can anticipate the enemies movements. He absorbs teachings like the earth drinking up the rain, and his killer instincts are strong and pure. His motto is probably something like 'no mercy'."

"Yes, that sounds about right, your majesty!" Dino laughed.

"You are an excellent tutor, Dino. You must be proud of your student."

"Oh wow, your Majesty. You're making me blush! It's an honour!"

"That boy is a fighter," Iemitsu nodded, "though, I am not as convinced that he is a king."

There was some silence after that. "Forgive me your majesty, but that's a dangerous thing to say so openly."

"Hmm," the king mummered, "we'll see."

And that was that, though the Kings words would stay with Dino during the turn of events in the near future.

As he got older, the Namimori prince grew even more restless and wild. He was still a disciplined and tamed young man before his kingdom, but he was never to be found in the castle anymore, always disappearing to who-knows-where. He was never to be found when you most needed him. And you would find him in the most unexpected places.

A memorable example of his unexpected hiding places was the time when the royal gardener witnessed prince Tsuna scrambling up the ladders into his tree house, and pull up the rope ladders after him, in order to escape the wrath of Haru. Why she was chasing him was unknown to this day, as the reason was so trivial it was forgotten in light of what came next... "Get down here yow coward, and face me like a man!" The princess had yelled, and with that, had delivered a swift kick to the wooden frame holding the tree house up.

From Tsuna's point of view, it was something of a blessing – having the tree house, with him it, crash to the ground at that very moment. As he had bolted up the ladders and lifted them into the wooden house, he had felt something foreboding prickling the hairs on the back of his neck. Dreading what he already knew, he looked around and saw a deathly silent Hibari glaring at him with slits for eyes, having just woken up. The terrifying thing about it was the 'just woken up' part. Everyone in the castle knew that to wake a sleeping hibari in the middle of a nap was equivalent to throwing oneself off a very high cliff, with little chance of survival. "Hi-hi-hibari! W-w-what are _you_ doing here?"

He pulled out his tonfa in silent response. "Do you want to die that much, Herbivore?"

And it was then that they heard the crack, and it all happened so fast that Tsuna didn't have time to even scream. Haru screamed, though, and Tsuna was somewhat relieved to hear her still crying once he'd smashed into the ground, the tree house in splinters around them. At least Haru wasn't killed, he thought, and then it occurred to him that he hadn't been killed either. It was a miracle! He couldn't see a thing, and only felt a warm, heavy pressure on top of him, making it hard to breathe.

And then there were shouts, and the pressure was lifted away, and there stood Dino with Prince Hibari in his arms, bending over Tsuna with a concerned expression. "What happened? Tsuna are you okay?"

Blinking in the sudden onslaught of light, it dawned on him that it was Hibari that had been the warm pressure, and that he had protected him, and that he had grabbed him just as he fell.

It turned out later that Tsuna had escaped with only a broken arm, and Haru a broken leg. They were both covered in cuts and bruises, however Shamal retained that he would only treat Haru. Tsuna had to wait a full hour before a capable village doctor would come to look at him instead. Once Hibari had woken up he'd taken one look at Tsuna, then walked away coldly just as Tsuna opened his mouth to say 'thank-you'. He had turned out to be fine, with only a sprained wrist that he refused to acknowledge anyway. After that there were no tree houses in the Namimori kingdom, and Hibari had to find other places to retreat to.

He was often found in high places, Tsuna had noticed. The castle roof, the bird sanctuary, the branches of a tree (the scariest – imagine looking up to see him glaring down at you, or worse, jumping down from the branches in front of you when you least expect it, or worse still....for you to look up, and see him sleeping above you, like a dozing cheetah in the jungle. Terrifying indeed.) Of coarse he uses other places so that it is not noticeable, but Tsuna had seen the connection in time. Hibari always wants to be as close to the sky as possible, watching the clouds.

* * *


	8. First Date

* * *

**FIRST KISS**

**

* * *

  
**

An interesting story, and one of the prince's fan-girl population favorites, is the cross dressing one, in which the young prince Tsuna got his first kiss! It goes like this:

It had come to a point in the mind of the King and Queen that more direct action was needed to ensure that their plans for their future were carried out accordingly. That is, of coarse, the marriage of Tsuna to Haru, and Hibari to Kyoko. They were not the type of people to force couples together, but they did not see any harm in giving them a little push in the right direction. After all, the children had reached that age when things started to change. Where there seemed to have been little to no progress in the past, the summer of the twins' thirteenth year was it.

"Hibari, be a dear and go into the village, I want some flowers to decorate the main sitting room, and a new summer hat."

"...mother, I know nothing of flowers or hats. "

"Oh, you're right! Well, be sure to take princess Kyoko with you, then! She has a knack for such things. I'll go fetch her right away. Be ready for her when I get back!" And with that the queen disappeared, leaving the deeply confused Hibari to get ready for his unknowing first date.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was practicing the proper technique to mounting his horse (he still had trouble with such basics) when the King appeared in the stables.

"Son, I need a new royal pair of underwear. Please take Haru with you to fetch some, since she is most aware of such things."

"D-dad! Are you crazy? Don't you think you should be doing such things for yourself!"

"...hmm. You're right. That isn't very romantic now, is it.." he mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing. Did I say underwear? I meant fancy wear. And it's not for me, it's for Queen Nana. Therefore Haru would be better suited for the job. Take her with you. I'll go fetch her now...be sure to be ready by the time I get back!" And with that the king disappeared before Tsuna could object.

He looked on hopelessly, and gave the same look to the royal horse trainer. "Could you make sense of that just now?"

"His majesty is a strange one!" Chuckled the middle-aged man, shrugging. "You go and get ready. I'll take the horse for a ride today-"

"Tsuuuunaaaa!" Came a familiar cry.

"I'm in the stables!" Tsuna called back, and he ran over to the source of the voice to find Princess Haru panting before him. "Haru, are you alri-"

"Come with me." She commanded, and grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him back into the castle without another word.

"Ack- that hurts! What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to..."

"Spend the whole day alone with you? Looking for a sun hat for my mum? King Iemitsu already explained to me what he wanted. I smell something fishy going on here, though."

"F-fishy?" Tsuna climbed the stairs two at a time to cry and keep up with Haru's pace. By the time they reached their destination, Kyoko's room, he was panting from the effort.

"Haru, what's this all a-a-Kyoko?" Haru had opened the door to her room to reveal a strange sight. "What are you...why are you dressed like that!?"

His twin sister was dressed in his finest summer clothes. 'His' being the operative word here. Her short mousy hair was brushed up and out in such a way that it wasn't nearly as big as Tsuna's, but could pass as an attempt to tame it on Tsuna's part (something he had tried and failed at before). She looked...exactly like him.

Haru bounded forward cheerily, linking arms with Kyoko. "Tsuna is going to go looking for a sun hat with Haru today, as King Iemitsu asked!" She said. Then she ran over to Kyoko's bed and held up a pretty pink and white summer dress. "And Kyoko will go looking for some flowers, as requested by Queen Nana!"

Tsuna looked at the dress, then at Kyoko, then back to the dress again. Alarm bells started ringing in his head and he started to back towards the door, shaking his head in a definite 'no'. When Haru advanced, dress in hand, he turned and fled.

And suddenly the door closed with an ominous SNAP, the only escape route barred by Bianchi, who stood two inches higher than Tsuna, arms crossed."Be a man, Tsuna. Wear the dress."

"Are you crazy!" Tsuna screeched. "Where did you come from? No way am I wearing a-what the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that if you and Kyoko swap places for the day, then I can shop with Kyoko and you can do whatever boys do with Hibari. It was my idea. I am so smart!"

"Everybody is bound to notice!"

Bianchi stepped in. "What are you talking about? You look exactly a like! Kyoko hasn't developed any real breasts yet, so you're okay in that department – " Tsuna and Kyoko blushed and spluttered at that, "and you're the same height, the same build...it's perfect, really. Your eye colours are different, though, so be sure to not give direct eye-contact to anybody. And don't speak to anyone."

"As if I could do that! Hibari is bound to notice!"

"He doesn't look at little details like that. And Kyoko's quiet anyway. No difference there."

"Listen, Tsuna, stop being such a baby! No one will ever know!"

"I don't want to wear it! I don't want to do this...why won't anyone listen to me?"

"Tsuna..." Kyoko said gently, which was strange coming from his own face, now that it looked so much more like his own. "Please take my place today..."

Tsuna looked at his sister, and wanted nothing more than to just run and hide from this insanity. He closed his eyes to the girl he loved and took a deep, shuddering breath. When he opened them again, all three eyes of the girls in the room were trained on him. he gulped, and gave a tiny nod of his head.

Suddenley no less than six maids burst into the room, having been hiding behind the curtains, behind the wardrobe, from under the bed...

"AHH! What's with all these people all of a sudden?"

"Don't worry, they won't tell anybody. They're experts with hair and make-up – you'll look like exactly like Kyoko in no time!"

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One hour later, the carriages were ready and Hibari sat waiting for his date to arrive. Tsuna and his sister had already left twenty minutes ago for the village, and Hibari could only assume that Kyoko had changed her mind, and was not coming to town with him.

"Prince Hibari!"

Hibari looked up at the call to see Dino jogging up to him, a little out of breath. "Prince Hibari, have you seen Enzio anywhere?"

"Enzio?" Hibari repeated, trying to remember if he knew any Enzios – he was usually very good at remembering the names of every single person in his kingdom, since if he was going to discipline them he'd want to know their names before they died - yet the name wasn't ringing any bells. Bells...silver bells...cockle shells...giant water-absorbing reptile.

"I haven't seen your pet turtle anywhere." Hibari supplied. Enzio – turtle that grew into a giant upon contact with water. Now he remembered.

"Ah, no luck. Oh well...I'm sure he'll turn up some where. He couldn't have gone far...ah! Princess Kyoko! It's a pleasure to see you. You look beautiful as ever."

Kyoko blushed and averted her eyes, clutching onto the hem of her frilly white summer dress in response, which Hibari thought was both rude (for not greeting Dino in turn) and odd (she always had in the past).

"Her majesty has a sore throat, and is refraining from speaking today to save her voice." Her hand maid supplied. Kyoko nodded vigorously in agreement, all the while looking down instead of showing her face.

"Oh is that so? I'm sorry to hear that, Princess. Make sure to take good care of her then, Hibari. I'm going to go look for Enzio now, so have a nice day, your majesties. Hope you feel better soon, Princess!"

Dino bowed and then left for the castle, and Hibari held his hand out in order to support the lady into the carriage. Kyoko only blushed harder as she placed her hand into Hibari's, and he noticed it was cold and clammy.

Why so nervous? Had Kyoko always been like this? No,definately not. He would expect her brother to be this way, but not Kyoko. She was a fairly confident women, and a ready princess...yet today...

Hibari stared as Kyoko tripped over her dress into the carriage and fell into her seat. That...was unexpected. Hibari cleared his throat for the driver. "We're ready,drive on." He ordered, and the carriage gave a slight jolt as it set off for the village.

Taking into account her sore throat and his own inclination of not talking, the journey was a long one, albeit silent. Tsuna was very uncomfortable in his sisters dress, and felt like everyone could see right through him and was laughing at him, but also he could feel a physical discomfort inside the dress at the bow on his back. He reached to itch it several times during the journey, and Hibari began to wonder whether she hated being next to him so much that she couldn't sit comfortably. By the same token, he didn't really care.

Upon arrival they went shopping, and Tsuna picked up the first hat that he saw.

After the mercifully short shopping trip, Hibari lead the way out of the shop and, shockingly to Tsuna, to the ice cream palour. "For your throat" Hibari said, and Tsuna was surprised to hear that. That was...really thoughtful.

When passing by the river they stopped to watch a group of young children throwing food at the swans. Seeing 'Kyoko' watching the children with a wistful look on her face, Hibari suddenly disapeared from Tsuna's side and a moment later reappeared, holding out a bag of bread crumbs in front of Tsuna. Behind him, Tsuna saw the children huddled together at a few pieces of silver. Tsuna hesitantly took the bread and fed he ducks, his hand shaking as he held the bag. Hibari was being so kind to him...it was so unlike Hibari...it made Tsuna extremely nervous, not knowing what to expect.

They followed the river flowing through the village all the way to the sea, at which point they stopped before going through the fish market and simply stood at the midway point on wide stone bridge. Carts filled with fish rolled by and busy people going about their day, and the smell of fish lingered in the air around here. Tsuna hated the smell of fish. All he could think about was how sick it was beginning to make him feel, when Hibari spoke.

"Your brother mentioned that you like it here." He said. Tsuna started – he had? When?

"The sea, I mean. You love to go sailing on your fathers ship?" Oh yes, Tsuna thought, his crazy sister loved sailing alright. Perhaps if she had sea-sickness, or could not swim, like Tsuna, she wouldn't be too fond of the sailing either.

"I think I see a pattern in your relationship." Hibari continued, not hearing Tsunas thoughts. "Isn't it, that whatever he finds dangerous, you find thrilling?"

Tsuna actually paused to consider that for a minute. I_t is true, and her hobbies will kill me today! _And then Tsuna thought, _Oh my – is Hibari- is he trying to make conversation?! _

"You are not very similar." Hibari said. "That is to be expected, of course. You are not the same person. But you are acting exactly like him today. It makes me think that you are very similar after all." _Oh my god! He IS making conversation! Who is this person? This cannot be Hibari! _

And then a wild thought struck Tsuna.

_Could this really be Haru??_

"..."

"Is your ribbon bothering you?"

Tsuna looked at him, confused.

"You keep itching it. Is it too tight?"

Tsuna hadn't even realized he'd been scratching again, but yes, he felt it was too tight. How did Kyoko, or any girl, for that matter, put up with wearing a dress? Tsuna didn't think he could ever get used to the floaty material wrapped around him like a doll.

When Tsuna didn't reply, Hibari took the liberty of adjusting it for him by pulling on the knot a little, effectively loosening the tie. Admittenley, that did feel better, and Tsuna had to stop himself from saying 'thank-you' and revealing his voice.

"Better?" Hibari inqured.

Tsuna nodded.

"I am aware that you love boats. You are often going away with your father, while your brother stays at home...am I correct?"

Tsuna nodded slowly, realizing a second too late that he should have lied just then.

"Then, lets go." Hibari said, and Tsunas heart sank. He hated boat trips!

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* * *

"Ah, your majesties! It's an honor! Your sister passed by not too long ago, Prince Hibari, with your brother, Princess Kyoko. They seemed to be getting along very well." Said a sailor. "Prince Tsuna has developed quite the sweet tooth, no doubt under Princess Haru's influence! Wouldn't you agree, your majesties?"

* * *

And as they walked through the village centre on their way to the boating dock where the day-trip ship was, they spotted the real princess Kyoko and Princess Haru ahead, linking arms. Linking arms! "Oh god," Tsuna thought, "they are definitely going to give the wrong impression!"

* * *

Tsuna was worrying about what he was seeing, but then he started to hear snippets of conversation, and Tsuna recognized one as having him as the subject of discussion; "-quite feminine, really." "I know! I have never noticed how pretty he was before!" " And he seems to like shopping these days, I wonder why the sudden change of heart?"

* * *

Conversations such as these alone were enough to make him blush wildly, as they were obviously talking about his sister dressed up as himself. He wanted to tell them he wasn't himself today! It was his sister! His sister!

* * *

But then a group of boyish voices hidding in a bush they passed by caught his attention, "He cannot play sports, he is not so smart, he is just like a girl don't you think?" "All he has is his looks, and everyone is in love with him!"

* * *

Tsuna felt the air disturbance beside him and saw out of the corner of his eye a flash of Hibari's tonfa, and was barely in time to stop him from swinging it into the bush to the unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately he was too strong to be stopped, and the boys were nearly dead from a single blow before Tsuna managed to get him to stop.

* * *

"Please, they are probably just jealous. Can't you see how the girls are gathering over there?"

* * *

And indeed, flocks of village girls seemed to be following the distant image of young love ahead, and one by one Tsuna noticed how some of the round faces began to notice their arrival, and fell back in order to mob Hibari. Tsuna could not decide whether to admire their bravery or pity their stupidity.

* * *

It was not so bad at first, only half a dozen saying hello your majesties, I hope you are doing well today your majesties, you look so wonderful again today your majesties! And then the focus of attention began strongly locked onto Hibari, and Tsuna felt oddly like he was wrong to get in their way. Some of them whispered 'oh you are so lucky, Princess Kyoko!' to Tsuna.

* * *

Tsuna noticed that the boys could be seen in the distance, watching the growing procession, with Hibari at the centre of it, wearily. They didn't want to die today...

* * *

"Kufufufu," someone chuckled, so close to Tsuna that he jumped from the shock of it, having felt the hot breath of air tickle his neck and baby hairs. "I didn't known you swinged that way, Prince Tsunayoshi." Said the smooth voice. "I'm relieved!"

* * *

Tsuna spun round to get a look at the speaker and saw for a brief second a wide thin smile on an older boys face, dark strands of hair framing his face and a pair of striking eyes, that sent a jolt of terror through Tsuna at it's strangness and familirity: one blue, one as red as blood.

* * *

"wh-wha-what?!" Tsuna managed to splutter after an age, but somehow a pair of girls, one ginger and one flaxen blonde, stood directly in front of him. The mystery boy was gone as suddenly as he had appeared.

* * *

Suddenly thinking that he had been seeing and hearing things, Tsuna turned his attention back to Hibari, curious to see whether he had seen anything too. Seeing Hibari's stoic face, he could read very well that he was hating the predicament they were currently in – trapped on all sides by the oppressive crowd of chattering village girls.

* * *

Having an idea, and having seen the Queen do this once before on another outing that had ended up like this, he took off his hat and threw it as far as he could away from them. "Ah, my hat!" He exclaimed at the top of his voice. "Will someone get that for me?"

* * *

And although only some of them ran to retrieve the royal hat, everyone single of them had turned to look where it had flown, and Tsuna took that chance to grab Hibari by the hand and escape from the throng of girls very quickly.

* * *

They ran to the church. Sanctuary! Tsuna had to lean against the colsed doors to catch his breathe, and noticed with envy how Hibari had not even broken into a sweat. He waited for a moment, then turned around and left for the church stairs.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Tsuna asked, hurrying after him, though he got no reply. He could have guessed where they were going though, and his guess was correct. Soon they were on the church rooftop, looking down at the lay of the land. 'This guy...' Tsuna thought in resignation. 'He just loves high places...'

* * *

The sky met the glittering sea on the horizon, and the village bustled in the yellow sun light. To the east was the forest, enchanting instead of dangerous in the light of day, and beyond that Tsuna could see his own kingdom of Vongola. To the west, much closer to the village, was the Namimori castle, erect and pristine, dignified even from this distance. It could only be the home to royalty.

* * *

"You told me before that you and your brother are growing apart." Oh god, Tsuna thought. Kyoko said that? "He misses you." Tsuna is shocked. What? "He won't say it in words, but his expressions are as easy to read as a book. I know none other as honest in their mannerisms as him."

* * *

Tsuna didn't say anything. What was Hibari saying? What was Tsuna supposed to say to that?!

* * *

"You are different from how I imagined, Kyoko." Hibari said softly. Blush-blush 'oh god my face is melting' thought Tsuna, and this time felt that he had to say _something_. Something Kyoko would say. It must be the most Kyoko thing he could think of...

* * *

"I-I- think, you are very kind." He spills in a rush, and realises that it was true. Hibari was cruel at times, but today he had been very kind. Tsuna had seen a whole different side to Hibari that he had never seen before, and he wondered if Kyoko had ever experienced this too. He glanced up and saw to his surprise Hibari blush, and Tsuna in turn blushed ever harder.

* * *

Tsuna did not see the kiss coming, but at the very moment Hibari leaned in to give it, the uncomfortable itch at Tsunas back returned, and he squirmed away from it uncontrollably before he realized what it was Hibari was doing.

* * *

Hibari, though, snapped back into himself and swiftly stood up. "I'm sorry..." he says, and for the very first time, he looked very unsure of himself. He had a very complicated expression on his handsome face, and Tsuna was still shocked at his what he nearly did. But then he remembered that he wasn't himself at that moment. "That's right, right now I look like Kyoko! It wasn't me he was about to kiss..." and then it ocurred to Tsuna, "does that mean, he doesn't like Kyoko in that way??"

* * *

"...please forget that happened just now." Hibari said, not looking at Tsuna.

* * *

"I will return the favour." he said elusively. "I think they would have gone by now. Lets go." and he takes her to the boats. Oh joy.

* * *

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* * *

As it turned out, Kyoko and Haru were already on the small ship before them, ready to sail around the shore for a while and relax on the ship all day, just as Hibari had in mind for Tsuna.

* * *

"Kyoko!" Haru called, waving and giggling in his direction. Tsuna tried very hard not to give eye-contact, and Hibari didn't miss the avoid ant attitude he had for his twin. Or rather, the avoid ant attitude it seemed Kyoko had for her twin at the other side of the deck.

* * *

They set off as soon as the two majesties had boarded, with only a few villagers on board with their families or as couples, taking the day off from working to enjoy the day in the sun. Not even five minutes in, Tsuna was being to feel nauseous.

* * *

"Tsuna, are you alright? You look a bit green." The real Kyoko whispered to real Tsuna. Tsuna opened his mouth to say no he was not! When the boat gave a particularly noticeable lurch over a wave.

Thinking that he was about to be sick, Tsuna launched himself to the side of the boat, tripped over his dress, and went overboard.

It happened so quick no one was sure how exactly it happened, but astonishingly Hibari managed to grab him just in time.

Tsuna dangled from the side of the boat, Hibari holding onto his arm with two hands while he swung like a pendulum from the momentum of falling. Tsuna heard a faint 'plop' and wandered what he had dropped, but he didn't chance it a look.

"What are you doing, Kyoko?!" Hibari said, slightly angry.

"I'm sorry! I tripped!" Tsuna cried, "pull me up!" After all, there was only the sea bed below. Hibari heaved, and with little effort managed to pull Tsuna up, helping him on deck without any help from the offering hands.

"Oh how heroic, Prince Hibari!"

"You were so brave, your majesty!"

"How quick you were to save him, incredible!"

Down came the praises and congratulations, while Tsuna stood there, blushing red and looking embarrassed for the trouble he'd caused. People where asking him whether he was alright, was he hurt at all, what happened?

"What was it you dropped?" Hibari said. Tsuna looked up in confusion. "You dropped something, didn't you? I heard a splash."

Come to think of it, yes, hadn't Tsuna heard the faint 'plop' as he dangled from the side of the ship? He picked up his dress and checked his shoes, which were still there. checked his wrists for lost bracelets, his neck for a fallen necklace...

"No, I don't think I dropped any-"

"MONSTER!!" Someone cried suddenly. "SEA MONSTER PORT BOOOOOW!!"

And all of a sudden the boat began to heave up and out of the water on the one side, slowly and majestically at first but gaining speed as it tipped up and up until everyone was tipped to the one side of the boat, and then finally it was completely capsized with everyone in it with a huge crash.

There in the middle of the sea was a giant turtle, it's spike shell like armor made for war with tribal marking etched into the surface.

_Enzo? _Hibari recalled Dino saying he was missing. _What are you doing here?_

Before Hibari could come up with a possible explanation, he heard shouts and saw a sailor gesturing for him to swim towards the boat he was occupying. He swam the length with ease even with his boots still on and his clothes pulling him down. He'd never swam fully dressed before, and was surprised at the difficulty he was having...

As this thought crossed his mind, so did Kyoko's dress, and the complications of her clothes dawned on him. As he approached the boat he shook away the numerous hands offered him and instead of climbing into the boat said "have you seen Kyoko?"

"No, your majesty!" The bulbous nosed sailor with no hair and in need of a shave frantically cast his head around, scanning the other life boats, and Hibari did the same with the sea. "She's not in any of the boats, your majesty!"

"Over there! I see a hat!" cried a hysterical girl in the boat, "isn't that the princess' hat?"

Hibari followed the dripping gloved finger of the girl pointing to his right, and sure enough, there was a white object bobbing on the sea.

Without hesitation hibari launched himself in that direction, and when he was close enough to identify it as truly being Kyoko's hat he dove right under and began to swim downwards. There wasn't enough time to think, though panic squeezed his heart and made it painfully hard to keep under water for long.

With his eyes open and stinging he scoured the depths of the sea, and after about 50 metres could just about make out the sea weed and rocks at the bottom. He was running out of air, and the princess was no where to be seen...

As he turned his face upwards to take in some air before he drowned, he noticed something float up past him from the corner of his eye. It was a ribbon.

Before he even looked where he was going he swam down further, kicking frantically against the pressure building up in his ears and behind is eyes. The pounding in his skull made him heady, but he was almost to the bottom, and sure enough, behind the seaweed was the princess.

He grabbed her arm and through it over his neck, then kicked off from the rocky sea bed and darted up towards the broken light above. Beside him Kyoko was as limp as a doll, and made the ascent to air painfully slow.

His lungs were fit to burst, and he reached a state of mind that all he could think about was air, air in his lungs, beautiful air, sweet sweet cold refreshing...

They popped out of the water like a cork. Hibari gasped and spluttered and heaved oxygen into his lungs greedily, and he had never been so happy to be breathing. Everything was dizzy and it was hard to focus at first, and he was sure he blanked out for a second or two, but then he became aware that several boats were heading towards him frantically, shouting and calling and he could here the distinctive cries of his sister and...Kyoko?

The girl in his arms wasn't breathing, and the moment Hibari realized this a boat bumped into his back, and strong arms grabbed hold of him and her and heaved them into the boat. As soon as he had scrambled on, dripping and coughing still, he scrambled over to Kyoko who was a waxy white colour and still as a lifeless doll.

Dread filled the sailors hearts and fear quelled in the pit of their stomachs that it was too late for the princess, but Hibari only hovered over her for a moment before pinching her nose and smacking his lips to hers, breathing into her.

He only vaguely acknowledged the calls of his sister nearby, perhaps in another boat approaching, and the shouts of commands from the sailors. The boat bobbed beneath him unsteadily as he tried to keep a steady rhythm to his pumps on the girls chest. He breathed for her for a long time, the longest minute anyone had ever had, and the sound of crying was greatly distracting him and throwing him off rhythm, when unexpectedly the girl coughed and spluttered under Hibari's ministrations, and then the body shuck as it tossed to the side and began throwing up a frightening amount of sea water.

It was nothing short of a miracle, and everyone erupted in cheers and claps and shouts and cries of delight. Tsuna woke up gasping and coughing from a strangely raw throat, with a strangely aching chest and slightly swollen lips, which tingled as he spoke. "H-hibari?"

Upon hearing the voice, Hibari froze in confusion. It suddenly dawned on him how utterly flat the chest he had been working on was, and how different the voice was, and without the hat and make-up, the face before him looked distinctly familiar to a Not-Kyoko.

Before Tsuna could formulate a 'thank-you' past his lips, Hibari lifted up his dress skirt and took a long look at what was underneath, much to the embarrassed shouts and yells of outrage from the crowd of people around him.

He slowly let the skirt drop, and Tsuna saw the look of thunder on Hibari's face and barely caught on to what wrong he had done to deserve such a death glare. It all came back to him in a rush; the church, the cross-dressing, the hat they had to buy, the boat, the giant water absorbing sea turtle monster...

"Eh...Hi-hi-hi-Hibari? I can expla-!" Hibari gathered Tsuna into his arms with ease and suddenley, without warning, dropped him over the side of the boat.

"To the shore." He said coldly to the sailor, settling back into the boat.

"B-but your majesty..."

"To the shore." Hibari repeated, glaring at the man with frosty dead rays, daring him to think another thought against him.

"AYE AYE, YOU MAJESTY!" Cried the poor spooked sailor, who had seen the horror of his own death in the eyes of his future king, and now had completely forgotten about Tsuna thrown over board.

As they rowed off, a sailor dived in and saved Tsuna for a second time.

* * *

And thus, the kingdom got to see their prettiest prince in a dress, and witness the hot wet kiss of life given by the gallant Hibari to his beloved Tsunayoshi, though neither were aware that it would be the first of many, many more to come.

**A/N: Ignore the line breaks in the chapter. I can't get rid of them for some reason :S sorry!**

* * *


	9. Sunset

* * *

**Sun sets in the evening**

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* * *

  
**

Tsuna could remember the summer that Hibari started acting mighty strangely. though no one else seemed to have noticed any change in the older prince. He was always strange to begin with, but his reactions to Tsuna had always been pretty consistent up until then. It had always been a matter of cause and effect: Tsuna interupped a nap, Hibari would bite him to death. Tsuna let Hibird nest in his hair, Hibari would smile. Tsuna felt almost comfortable around Hibari knowing what his actions will be if he did this, or how he would react to that, but that summer...for lack of a better word...he was evil!

Tsuna supposed that Hibari hadn't forgiven him for the boat-incident, even though he had apologized over and over again all summer. He started to feel horrible, since it seemed Tsuna had really damaged his pride. Tsuna should have just said no to his sister and Haru's crazy ideas, like his gut told him to! In the end, it was partly his fault. So eventually Tsuna stopped trying to talk to Hibari and left him alone, to try and give him time to get over it and talk to him first.

It was at that point when the strangeness started.

Instead of forcing himself to sit beside Hibari at breakfast in order to try and start conversation with him, Tsuna sat by his sister.

"Tsuna, you've barely eaten your food. Are you sick?"

"I-I'm fine, I'm just not hungry today!" Tsuna replied. In fact, it was the cold glare being sent his way from Hibari, that turned his stomach into nervous knots and made it hard for poor Tsuna to swallow.

Then there was the dreaded bath time they were forced to have together. It was never too bad since King Iemitsu was always there between them to lighten the mood, and Tsuna could pretend that Hibari wasn't there. Tsuna had kept to the tradition of jumping in first, so that Hibari couldn't spy on his lack of muscle and general lack of masculine physique. Tsuna was probably the scrawniest thirteen year old the royal lineage had ever seen, and Tsuna always kept only his head above the water during baths, going great lengths to hide himself from Hibari, though when he thought about it later, he did not really know why he felt so embarrassed. After all, Hibari had no qualms about stepping in and bathing himself quickly, and Tsuna would blush with envy at the muscled abs and smooth white skin. He hated being compared to that.

On one of the bath days, though, the king left first to handle other matters, and Hibari rose with him. Relieved that he could spend a little more time in the steamy bath, Tsuna stayed a little while longer. Then he got a bad feeling about something, and jumped out of the bath to get a towel.

Of course, there was no towel, and no clothes, and yes, his night gown was gone. Not so much as a bit of cloth in the whole bathroom.

So, Hibari was still very angry at him after all...poor Tsuna had to cry for help behind the bathroom door, not knowing that Hibari had given strict orders to the maids not to answer such a call when it came. After ten minutes of debating whether or not he should risk being seen, and after a good cry from embarrassment and the unfairness of it all, Tsuna covered himself with his hands as modestly as he could and scurried through the halls to the nearest bedroom.

And after that it got ever stranger. Such as Hibari sometimes walking into the room Tsuna was in and simply watching him, until Tsuna got so uncomfortable that he had to stop whatever he was doing. And when Tsuna tried to walk away, he would follow him.

He'd lock him in store rooms until someone could hear him shouting. While Tsuna had been chatting with Dino, Hibari had aimed an arrow at Tsuna's head while practicing artery, so that the arrow went right through Tsuna's big hair, leaving a hole that you could look right through. He told the cooks to put extra hot spices on his dinner, and Tsuna was forced to eat it or else look ungrateful to Queen Nana. Once, to Tsuna's shock and relief, thinking for a wild moment that perhaps he had been forgiven, Hibari had handed Tsuna a gift, which only turned out to be a doll in a similar dress Tsuna had been wearing on that dreadful day. Tsuna 's heart had sunk and he'd been so embarrassed at the reminder that he'd thrown the doll out the window, and slumped off in a huff feeling utterly miserable.

Then there was the time when Tsuna had passed by Hibari in the corridor, but instead of greeting him like he did during the groveling-for-forgiveness stage, Tsuna had merely bowed his head and tried not to make eye-contact. He was rewarded with a tonfa to the back of his head, and when he woke up several hours later, his father was standing over him. "That's a strange place to be having a nap, Tsuna!" he said cheerfully.

At which point, Tsuna had finally had enough, and he burst into tears.

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At that moment, Hibari was also getting some friendly advice.

"You've been particularly blood thirsty in your sparring lately, your majesty." Dino panted, narrowly avoiding a deadly swipe to the neck. "Has something happened?"

Hibari didn't say anything, merely followed through with a stab to Dino's gut that whistled through thin air.

"Oh come now, I can tell there's definitely something up. Has it got anything to do with Prince Tsuna, by any chance?"

At this Hibari jumped up with such speed and force as to cut off some of Dino's hair, and Dino felt the whistle of the blade so close to his face that he turned milky white.

Much to Hibari's chagrin he recovered fast though, typical of Dino, and even laughed a little, "Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

Too annoyed to continue with practice, Hibari sheaved his sword and pulled out his tonfas. Dino grinned – so he was getting serious. In turn, Dino dropped his own sword and pulled out his whip, letting it uncoil slowly to the floor.

"Come on now, Hibari. Tell Big Bro what's wrong, hm? I can tell something is going on. Your sister and his sister even asked me what was going on. I have my theories." The older man grinned. Unfortunately that smirk was his death warrant, and Hibari did indeed go all-out. Other people that had been sparring stopped what they were doing to stare in shock at the speed and force they were going at, such power and violence was behind those blows, and such skill – they were on a whole different level. As expected of a king...

Even more shocking, Dino found time to carry on his conversation, which only served to antagonize Hibari even more. "Let's see...for some reason...whenever you see him..." Dino had to do a back flip to avoid being bludgeoned in the gut, "...you get strangely pissed off. Yet at the same time, you don't like him out of your sight – whoa!" Dino flattened himself to the ground to avoid being decapitated by a blunt instrument, and tied Hibari's feet together with his whip, to which Hibari simply used his arms to yank the whip and Dino closer into range, so as to kill him. Dino, used to this, narrowly avoided death with ease.

"You get incredibly irrational when he's with other people. Me, his sister, your mother...anyone, really, and I get the sense that you want to kill him." Dino finally managed to wrap the whip further up the wild Hibari's body, effectively stilling his movements and trapping one of his arms. "Or maybe you just want to bite the person he is with to death for talking to him?" Dino tripped up the prince with his whip, not getting too close, instead pulling out his sword and holding it to his neck, standing over him. "That's a little too over-protective, don't you think?"

Hibari glared at Dino, his face turning pink, before fiercely turning his head away. Dino sighed.

"I can see you really aren't going to talk on the matter, so I won't try to force it out of you. But he's a little brotherly advice. If you want to be friends with him, you're going about it completely the wrong way. Tsuna's not the type to read between the lines or see what's underneath. You have to be straight with him."

At Hibari's blank look, Dino leaned in and said to him, "be yourself, Hibari. Stop punishing him for your own insecurities. It's unbecoming of a prince."

When Hibari's eyes narrowed at Dino, he sensed that any word more would be crossing the line, and he let go of him. He bowed.

"Thanks for the match your majesty."

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Dino walked away from the fallen Hibari, feeling totally drained. He was thankful for the flask of water Fuuta handed to him on the side lines, and accepted the towel to dry himself with gratefully.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on him, Dino?" Said the teen.

"You think so?" Dino scratched his chin in thought, watching Hibari get up and walk away as though nothing had happened. "Nah, I think he can handle it."

"Well, hopefully he will listen to the advice, and will forgive Tsuna for what happened at the beginning of the summer. After all, Tsuna is ranked tops in people-that-are-most-on-his-mind right now."

Dino raised an eyebrow. "You did a ranking on what was on your majesties mind? Is that ethical?"

"Well, I needed to see what was bothering him somehow!" Fuuta blushed. "It was completely innocent!"

"Sounds pretty dubious to me." Dino laughed. "Just curious, who ranked below him?"

"Hibird."

"Hibird!" Dino shook his at the thought. "_What _is going on through that boys head."

"Well, more specifically Hibird's diet. He thinks he may be over feeding him."

"I see!" Laughed Dino ever harder, and Fuuta had to smile a little. "And you're ranking told you all that?"

"No, I was curious, so I asked him how Hibird was. He wanted my opinion on the matter..."

"He wanted your-" Dino finally doubled over laughing, he got a thrill from hearing about the human side of Hibari, since he was probably the only one who lived through seeing his most demonic side when they sparred.

"And you might find it interesting to know, that the third ranking...was Kyoko."

Dino's head whipped up at that. "Kyoko?"and a huge grin spread across his face. "_Princess Kyoko_?"

Fuuta nodded, a little smile on his face too. "Do you know any other Kyoko's?"

"Well it's about time!" Dino exclaimed. "The king and queen will be pleased! I guess this means they're finally making some progress in that area, huh? Third...that's not a bad ranking." Dino paused, "though it's a bit worrying that she's below his pet bird, and below Tsuna, for that matter!"

"Yes, I thought that was pretty strange, too. But then, like you said, he's upset with Tsuna at the moment, isn't he? For tricking him that day."

"Yeah. Psshh!" Dino broke into giggles, "what a day that turned out to be! Best date ever!"

"It's not funny, Dino!" Fuuta said, aghast. "His majesty almost died! And it was because your pet turtle snuck into Tsuna's dress, and fell out into the sea when he almost fell over board...and if Prince Hibari hadn't been there to give him mouth to mouth-"

"Bwhahahaha!!"

"Dino, please!"

"Oh my god, I can't breathe...okay, okay, I'm calm." Dino wiped the tears from his eyes. There was an awkward silence, and then Dino dissolved into a fit of laughing again. Fuuta sighed.

"Well, it explains why Hibari can't let it go. If everyone is laughing at him the way you are-!"

"He's overreacting." Dino said, recovering from his laughing fit. His tone surprised Fuuta, it was low and serious. "It's true that he's the type to hold a grudge for the rest of his life. It's just the way he is. But it's definitely not like him to be so ambiguous and unsure of himself, the way he's been acting around Tsuna lately. He's been acting like a school-boy with his first crush, for lack of a better way of putting it."

Fuuta blushed furiously at that, "Dino! I'm certain that it's nothing like that!"

"Oh really? Watch him closely, Fuuta. Better yet, do another ranking, see who's most important to him right now or something. I was confused like you at first, but then it occurred to me; apart from me, and perhaps his servant, Kusakabe, who could you consider a friend to Hibari?"

Fuuta blushed nervously. "Well, I would gladly be his friend! Except, well..."

"Hey hey, I don't mean anything like that. I understand, it's a pretty impossible position to be in when it comes to him – not to mention life-threatening. Though it's rare, he talks to Kusakabe sometimes. And rarer still, he'll come to me." Dino laughed under his breath, "Or rather, I force him to spend time with me, and he doesn't push me away."

Fuuta sensed some sadness in the tone now. "Dino...?"

"But when it comes down to it, Fuuta - I'm his trainer, and Kusakabe is his servant. My point is, I think...what Hibari's feeling right now... could it be that Tsuna is the closest he has ever come to having a friend?"

"...oh."

"Hey...hey! What the- you look so miserable all of a sudden, Fuuta!"

"Well you just gave me some very sad thoughts to think about! I never considered, not even once, that Prince Hibari may be feeling _lonely_."

"Oi oi, don't mis-understand me. This is Hibari we're talking about here! That kid _hates _being crowded, and probably hates people in general. I'm just saying, he probably doesn't know how to react to friendship, is my theory on the matter. That's all I have to say." Dino took another swig of water from his flask. "Hopefully our little spar today got the message through to him, though."

"And what message was that?"

"That if he cares about Tsuna enough to have the capacity hate him so much, then it's pretty obvious that he cares about Tsuna enough to have the capacity to love him."

Fuuta blushed and splutterd at that. "Dino! I wish you wouldn't keep saying such misleading things as that!"

"Haha, you know what I mean, you pervert." Dino said. "If Hibari takes my advice, he'll be well on his way to achieving a best friend."

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Tsuna was in his fathers room, getting told the wrong piece of advice concerning Hibari.

"Ah well, Hibari is pretty harsh in his ways, isn't he?"

"Harsh? _Harsh_?" Tsuna screeched, a hint of hysteria in his voice. "What an understatement! He's downright homicidal, Dad! And I'm gonna be his first victim. If one day you keep calling for me, and I don't answer, and you can't find my body anywhere – then I'm telling you now, it was him! He killed me! Just so you know – it was murder."

The king laughed, though Tsuna didn't think it was very funny. He was being serious! His life was in danger.

"Hmm. Tsuna, maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but perhaps it will help give you a bit of perspective into Hibari's behaviour, and why he does the things he does, like following strict rules and following through with harsh punishments. Do you want to hear it?"

"Isn't it because he's supposed to be the next king, so he wants to show them who's boss early on?" Tsuna said with distaste. "So he tortures me to show me my rightful place in his own kingdom?"

"Well, yeah..that's part of the reason. But I'm a king too, remember? Ever seen me act the way he does?"

Tsuna shook his head. "You're nothing like that devil, thank god."

"Then there's more to it than that. You see, Hibari's mother is young for a queen, you know, and what's more, she wasn't born into royalty. I think her husband, Hibari's father, knew the problems that came with that, and was anxious to make sure the kingdom stayed strong and disciplined, even with a village girl for his wife. It was unconventional and strictly frowned upon back then to marry that sort of woman. He had to convince the kingdom and his peers that he wasn't going soft.

"Fear is a powerful motivative tool, Tsuna. Don't underestimate it. But because of that, few people, if any, truly moaned for his death. As a king he was grieved, but as a person?" The king slowly shook his head. Tsuna was surprised – he'd never heard anything about Hibari's dad before. At least he knew where Hibari got his looks and personality from – he was nothing like Queen Nana in the slightest. Tsuna wondered not for the first time what sort of terrifying man Hibari's father might have been, and scared himself at the thought of another, older, bigger and more powerful Hibari. It was The Devil.

"So don't be too hard on Hibari. He acts the way he does because he feels he has to. He knows of his mother's disposition. I don't know whether you've noticed, but she doesn't really act like a queen. She more of a teenager."

Tsuna took it on board, but felt that it didn't really help his situation.

"But he hates me!" Tsuna whined, his voice cracking with tears again. "He really, really hates me, so much that I sort of hate myself! It's not about his mother or discpline or anything like that...not this time. I can actually feel his hatred for me. If I wasn't you son, he'd kill me! Infact, I think he may just do it anyway!"

King Iemitsu laughed again. "Ah, what it is to be young. Don't worry, he'll make friends with you soon enough. Friends can't stay mad at each other for long. Hey...that's not a bad idea, actually!"

"What is?"

"Friends! I wonder if the queen will be interested in holding a banquet for tomorrow, since it's our last day here this summer."

Tsuna blinked. The last day? Finally! The last day of summer! Tsuna had never been so happy for the winter to come about! No more torture for a whole half a year!

"...and inviting all your friends from the village. It would create the perfect atmosphere for you and Hibari to kiss and make up."

"B-b-but Dad!" Tsuna said, trying to ignore the kiss and make up part for the sake of his own sanity, "I don-t think-"

"It's a great idea, son. I'll go tell her right away..."

"But Dad!"

"Don't worry, Tsuna. You can play with your friends from the village tomorrow." And with that, the king left the room and shut the door with a snap.

Tsuna sighed in resignation, muttering under his breath, "but I don't _have _any friends from the village."

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And so on the last day of summer at the Namimori kingdom the village children got invited back to the castle for the first time in history, thanks to the influence of King Iemitsu, whom had only to ask for the banquet for the queen to clap her hands with delight and say 'yes! oh how perfect!' straight away.

They played team sports and games, and had evening dinner at the dining hall, so that the long table was filled with little kids laughing and eating and chatting and trying to be polite in this awe-inspiring castle.

Unsurprisingly, the kind and beautiful Kyoko was very popular and had a best friend, Hana, who was the eldest daughter of a Lord and was always by her side. Haru was popular for she was fun and energetic, and thought up the games that they could play before and after lunch.

Needless to say Prince Hibari was very disgusted with the crowds, and could not believe the lack of discipline in the hall. He could not even eat his meal without feeling the urge to start a riot, so he avoided the crowds of children. Even the boys his own age irritated him with their annoying talk of nothing but girls and sports. He slipped out of the hall without the royal guards noticing, up the castle stairs to the tower area and stepped outside on the roof of the castle, into the crisp evening air. It was still light outside, since it was summer, and the sky was a strange luminous orange color, as though a painter had spilt their orange onto the clouds. It cast a warm glow on the castle grounds like a fire place in winter, and long black shadows stretched across the field from the silhouette of the Rokudo forest.

As he admired the sky for a bit he heard a faint door hinge whine. His head whipped round and his hands went to the weapons at his side instinctively. He was very surprised to see Tsuna, already sitting behind the castle roof door, in the action of getting up and leaving, it seemed.

"Ah! Hibari! H-hi." Tsuna seemed unsure whether he should move out of the way like his survival instinct told him or remain where he was. He was there first, after all, and to leave would mean to turn his back to the enemy. "Erm...enjoying the party?" He said lamely, to buy himself some thinking time.

"What are you doing out here, herbivore?" Hibari said quietly, no bite in his tone despite the insulting nickname he used. Tsuna stared at him in shock. He hadn't expected a response from him, given that the older boy hadn't spoken to him all summer. Could this possibly be...forgiveness?

"I would have thought you'd be joining in with your village playmates." Hibari continued.

"Erm, no. I'm just...I'm just enjoying the air." Tsuna said, shifting a little uncomfortably. He was still weary of Hibari, yet eager at the same time to re conciliate.

"Hn. I thought you liked people. Are you sick?"

"Wha-No! No, what makes you think that? No, I'm not sick. I'm just...yeah. Just...not in the mood to be around...people." When Hibari continued to stare at him expectantly, Tsuna gulped nervously, then continued. "Well, the reason for that...is what it is. And, I just, don't seem to be liked by other kids." Tsuna drew his legs to his chest and hid his face in his arms wrapped around his knees. "I don't want to disadvantage them." he said, face down into his arms.

At the silence that followed, Tsuna glanced nervously at Hibari, wondering from that stoic expression what he was thinking.

"That is the most pathetic, loser way of thinking I have ever heard."

"Well, I can't help it!" Tsuna cried in defeat, hugging his knees. "I get the feeling that the only reason they play with me is because I am a prince. It's the same thing back at home. I don't want to force them to like me that way...I know I'm not very good at anything. I'm clumsy and I'm stupid, and I'm not very strong or fast or fun to be around. I don't fit in with other boys my age...I'm sure that, in their hearts, they are wishing that I wasn't around."

Hibari couldn't help himself. "Is that what you want?"

"Eh?"

He suppressed the need to smack him for the stupid look on his face.

"One day you will rule over the type of people dining in my castle right now. If you want them to acknowledge you, make them." He whipped out his weapon from nowhere, "_bite _them to death."

"No, it's not like that at all! You misunderstand..." Tsuna says, "it's not like I dislike them or anything. I just..." he shrugged. "I think it would be nice to have friends around, though."

"How naive."

Tsuna sighed and silently agreed. Yes, maybe he was being naive. He took a sip from the glass of punch he'd carried out with him, and couldn't help thinking how Hibari seemed so mature compared to most guys. "Maybe I'm just been childish, but I'd like to get to know my kingdom. I'll do my best. I'm just, not feeling up to it right now."

Hibari suppressed the impulse to knock him down right then and there for his words and depressing countenance right now. Hibari's thoughts were on other things.

Such as his secret admiration for Tsuna's subtle control over all those around him, though he was sure that Tsuna wasn't aware of such things about himself. Everyone that mattered; that is, the adults, seem to do whatever Tsuna asked of them, and more. Hibari could also get the same result from his own kingdom, but not the extras. How could Tsuna get things done without fear, but rather from...what? And not just from his own kingdom of Vongola, but here too. What is it about him? He is kind and polite and humble, and seems to love them in return. What is he saying when he complains that he isn't friends with anyone? He is friends with _everyone._

"I remember when this happened before." Tsuna said suddenly in a little voice. "That time I walked in on you standing on the roof of my castle." He explained, "but this time, it was you who walked in on me on the roof of your castle!" He laughed nervously. Obviously trying to make meaningless conversation.

Hibari thought that was one of the stupidest things he had ever heard Tsuna say. Who cared, or even remembered, little things like that? Hibari didn't even dignify that comment with a response.

"You hated me back then."

Hibari tensed at that, though he didn't turn away from the sunset.

"I know it." Tsuna said quietly. "And you still do, right?"

At first Hibari didn't say anything. Tsuna thought that maybe he must have crossed some invisible line in their temporary truce and started to shrink back into himself, thinking of ways he could get away from this...

"From as long as I can remember, people have known to fear me."

Tsuna was startled by the voice, but Hibari still had his back to Tsuna while he spoke.

"That's fine, though. It suits me, and I prefer it. It has been that way always, since the day I was born. My mother being the only exception. Even Haru knows to avoid me at times, she is aware of my limits. "

Tsuna suddenly remembered what his father had told him the night before, and wondered why Hibari was telling him this...

"However, my earliest memory is of someone who wasn't afraid me. I have my ways of getting the job done, and that someone was the first person I ever tried it on, and the only one it didn't work on. He laughed, even."

Tsuna was scared for whoever it was Hibari was talking about. What kind of thick skinned person alive wouldn't be weary of Hibari, and worse, would laugh at him!?

"It was a baby."

Tsuna blinked. A baby? The _baby _wasn't afraid of him!? Well obviously that baby was stupid.

"What happened next?" Tsuna prompted, after the long pause.

"At first I was furious. I thought maybe I wasn't something to be feared at all. In my childish way of thinking, I got really depressed. If a mere baby could laugh at me, I thought to myself, then I had no right to be a king. But after a while I thought back on that one person who didn't fear me and couldn't _stop_ thinking about it. Such an intriguing creature – I was determined to meet them again when they were older to see what type of person would face up to me, be my equal, have no fear.

Six years later I met him again, and to my disappointment, he was just like everybody else." Hibari said, but then for the first time since he'd started speaking, he looked at Tsuna. "Or so I thought."

"Who was this person? Do I know them?"

"...it was you." And Tsuna could hear the unspoken thought in Hibaris head: _Idiot. _

"ME?!" Tsuna gasped. He raked his memory for a time, any instance he had ever LAUGHED at Hibari? What...was he suicidal as a child? Or just THAT stupid??

"So in answer to your question..." _Question? What question? _"...yes, I hated you. But I suppose a better way of putting it would be...I was just...disappointed."

_Well, I guess waiting six years for someone who is amazingly unafraid of you, and getting me, would make anyone be angry with me, _thought Tsuna in the silence that followed.

"I've just thought of another exception, one so obvious I missed it. Your father, he's never been afraid of me, either." Hibari said suddenly. Tsuna nodded, that's true. "You are a lot like him."

"Really?" Tsuna exclaimed in shock. "But...I am nothing like my dad! He's strong and-"

"You are the same. Maybe a little less impulsive, but that is what will make you a great king."

It suddenly occurred to Tsuna that maybe Hibari had been drinking some of his fathers sake. His Dad was a heavy drinker at times, and didn't ever both to hide the evidence from anyone, just collapsing drunk and very un-kingly in the midst of it all. Tsuna had tried some of that 'magic water' as his father had put it, and knew the mind-boggling effects it could have on a person, knew the effects it was probably having on Hibari's reasoning right now. He wasn't himself. It was the 'magic water'. It was making Hibari say strange things...

"If I'm honest with you...I never wanted to be a king."

Tsuna spat out the juice he'd been sipping at.

"WHAT?"

"...that was disgusting," Hibari said coldly.

"I'm sorry..." Tsuna wiped his chin, "but...what? I thought-"

"It doesn't suit me. I hate it. It's boring. All that obligation and responsibility for even the tiniest of matters...I won't be chained into such things. Nobody can force me to do anything, I plan to give the title away, to whomever I deem fit, whether they want it or not."

Not knowing what to say to that, Tsuna didn't reply. This was a totally different side to Hibari. Not Hibari at all, really. Especially after a whole summer of being tortured by him. He wondered whether Hibari had ever showed this side to anyone else before? Probably not. He couldn't imagine Hibari admitting to his mother or sister; that he'd changed his mind and didn't want to be king anymore.

But then, he wouldn't ever have imagined that he'd confess it to Tsuna himself, either.

"Hi-Hibari?" Tsuna asked, trying to buy himself some time to process the information. "Why are you telling me this?"

Hibari shrugged and bowed his head. "Who knows?"

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And so the two young majesties talked throughout the night, not having anything to eat, and not even noticing the loss, though they both ate twice the usual amount for breakfast. "It's good to see you're your appetite back, Tsuna! You look a lot happier today. Having your friends round must have done you some good!"

"Yeah..." Tsuna said absently, helping himself to his fifth slice of toast.

"I'm so glad! It's a nice farewell party, until next summer, isn't it? It's so sad that you're all leaving us today. Iemitsu, you must have a leaving party at your own castle when we come to visit. Let's make it a tradition!"

"Ah," Iemitsu said as Tsuna began to choke on his food, "that is a wonderful idea, Queen Nana! You are as thoughtful as always." Beamed the King, and so another tradition was established, in which Hibari and Tsuna snuck out from farewell banquets, in order to escape the chaos of the party to the roof of the castle, in the mysterious glow of the sun set, talking of deep and trivial matters, a lone, together, into the night.

* * *

**A/N: I'm aware of the slow pace of this fic, but I keep getting side-tracked! Next chapter gets the ball rolling though, as it marks the end of the their childhood, and the majesties reach the perfect age for marriage :D **

**Next chap up not this week but sometime next week, thank-you for the reviews! Every time I saw one I worked a little bit on this :D  
**


	10. Bloom

**Summer showers to was away the doubts, and let the buds bloom**

* * *

The relationship between Kyoko and Tsuna had definitely changed over the last year since Dino last saw them. He noticed it straight away. They were not gravitating near each other, as though they could not bare to be apart. They did not move in symmetry like they had when Dino had first met them all those years ago, and Kyoko went straight to Haru without even looking to check whether it was okay with Tsuna for her to leave, as she had always done before.

Dino could only conclude that the twins were starting to get on in life without depending on the other. They had always had their own personalities, but they didn't even look like each other any more. Tsuna was an inch taller, his skin more sun-kissed, his nose a little higher up on his face, his eyes wide and a warm brown rather than Kyoko's lighter hazel. His hair was thicker and lighter now, and although you could tell they were siblings, you couldn't get confused between the two anymore. When Kyoko left, Tsuna walked up to Hibari and smiled happily. "It's been a while, Hibari."

Which was another surprise to Dino. Since when had Tsuna ever been HAPPY to see him?

After Tsuna found out that Kyoko and Haru wrote to each other that summer, Tsuna had tried to write once to Hibari, and to his surprise, he got a reply, from Hibird none the less! It was a shock to Tsuna to wake up one morning to the song of the bird chirping the National Namimori Anthem.

Still, it was usually Tsuna who did all the conversational talking in his letters. Hibari simply responded with very short responses, more like reports than informal letters to a friend. Sometimes he would put bird feathers into rolled up script before sending it on, as a sort of souvenir for Tsuna of the type of bird he'd spotted that day, or something. Tsuna was used to his strange quirks and hobbies by now though.

Time away from Tsuna had put stress on Hibari. Like an elastic band, the cold winter season made Hibari irritable and tense, and the time seemed to stretch on and on, until it reached breaking point, at which point Hibari snapped back to Tsuna's side during summer, lax and warmed by his presence, and felt no inclination to wonder off and leave him. Another two summers passed them by this way.

* * *

"You know what we haven't had in a long time?" Haru said one June afternoon. The other three royalties sitting on the stairs of the Namimori castle looked up at her. "Those special grapes from the Bovino farm. Remember those?"

"Ah, yes, I do remember those!" Kyoko said, smiling at the memory,"they were delicious! I remember the lady was very nice..."

"I remember that their kid was crazy. He stole all of mine and ran off with them. You had to share yours with me." Tsuna said to Kyoko, and Kyoko giggled.

"Ah, I remember that! You came back from the toilet crying like a baby and wouldn't let go of King Iemitsu." laughed Haru, making Tsuna turn red. "And you weren't making any sense at all! I didn't think you were telling the truth, to be honest."

"About what? My grapes being stolen?"

"Well sort of, because you were saying something like a little boy that looked like a cow had taken them."

"Yes, that's exactly what the thief looked like! I was telling the truth!"

"So was it a cow that ate them, or a boy?"

"I...It was definitely a boy! And he definitely had big hair, and he wore a cow skin suit, or something...honestly! Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I think you must have dreamt it. You were always telling little stories as a kid."

"No way! Like what?"

"Oh I can't remember all of them, can I? We were only little. I just remember the boys you said you saw by the forest, and then my Mum sent loads of men to search for them and didn't see anything. You must have been dishonest."

"Why would I do something like that! I was telling the truth, and...Hibari, you saw them too, didn't you? Hibari saw them too, Haru! He did....you did, didn't you?" Tsuna said, turning to Hibari sitting opposite him on the stairs, a heavy book on his knees.

Hibari said nothing, just silently turned a leafy page of his book.

"Just tell your sister what you saw by the river when we were kids...remember? The summer we had the picnic? And we went swimming in the river..."

"You know, that was the first time we ever visited this place." Kyoko said thoughtfully. "Doesn't it seem like it was only last year or something?"

"Hahi, I think you're right!" Haru exclaimed, "that was the very first summer we met. I must have been...eight? Nine?"

"You were six." Hibari said suddenly.

"No way! It's been ten years? That long?" Kyoko exclaimed, "It's definitely been a while since we had those grapes!"

"That decides it, then." Haru nodded, slapping her knees and standing up. "We're going to the Bovino farm, for some grapes, and to see Tsuna's imaginary friend."

"He was real!" Tsuna said insistently, but Haru just waved him off with a limp hand gesture.

"Sure, sure, we'll see for ourselves. Hibari, you're coming too."

Tsuna thought that the way Hibari looked up from his book and blinked at his sister was as if to say, 'are you crazy?' or 'do you want to be bitten to death?' or something like that.

Tsuna tried instead. "We're just going to get some grapes from the village. It's a really nice day, and we could look at something at the blacksmiths if you like."

Hibari turned the same look back at him. Still a 'no' then.

"But if you don't feel up to walking in this weather, I can understand. Sometimes Kyoko gets ill in the heat, too, and it's quite a long walk when you-"

Hibari snapped the book closed and stood up at that. "I think you underestimate the future king of this country, Herbivore." Hibari said suddenly, "this weather means nothing to me."

_And you'll walk with us to prove it, as predicted! _Tsuna thought, and when Hibari descended the stairs before him he smiled to himself at his cleverness. Hibari was easy to persuade once you only understood how he worked. If the proverbial carrot doesn't work, then poke fun at his pride, at a great distance, and with a very long stick.

But you have to try and do it before Hibari can give a real 'no' for an answer. Once that is said it would be threatening his pride to go back on his word. _As a king, he probably thinks his word is law, and becomes incredible stubborn, _is what Tsuna thought on the matter. Tsuna knew this about Hibari. and since he didn't want to go alone with the girls if he could help it, as they would surely pick on him, he felt no guilt in tricking Hibari to join them.

Haru convinced them all to walk the hour into the village on that sunny day. "It is very cloudy, so the sun shouldn't bother us too much!" she reasoned, and took her sun umbrella, just in case, "for a princess' skin should be white as snow and smooth as silk!" she declared.

The servants and some guards had volunteered to go with them, but Hibari had sent them away with a look. They were insulting his strength by thinking he needed assistance, Hibari said. He and Tsuna walked side by side behind the girls, who walked and talked on the road ahead. Haru with her frilly umbrella hanging off her arm, and a pastel green dress, Kyoko in a baby pink dress with a white shawl.

"I wonder, will you be shopping for very long this time?" Tsuna said at some point, "we only went to the village last week, and we spent a whole five hours outside three shops that looked exactly the same! This time, would you mind if me and Hibari did our own thing, too?"

"What a cruel thing to say, Tsuna! What a gentleman you are! And you call yourself a prince!" Haru scoffed over her shoulder as she marched on. "My own brother would never do such a thing as to abandon me!"

"You _are_ very protective of your sister, aren't you Hibari?" Kyoko said quietly. However, he did not see fit to dignify that question with an answer. "Well, I've always thought so." Kyoko finished, unfazed. They were all used to Hibari's ways by now.

Hibari was not in a very talkitive mood until the village came into sight. Then the people were too noisy, the market place too crowded, the children running around undisciplined. However, in the presence of three other royalties, rather than the paralyzing fear the villagers usually had about them when Hibari was in sight, they only bowed nervously or otherwise waved and smiled at the passing royalties. As though his aura was diluted by more gentle souls around him, he did not have much effect on the atmosphere in the market place anymore. Haru greeted them all as she passed, though not by name like Tsuna and Kyoko did in their own kingdom.

"What brings you here today, your majesties?"

"Care to try some new flavored shortcake, Princess Haru?"

"The florists have just restocked their wares, Princess Kyoko!"

"It is wonderful to see you all, your majesties!"

And this last statement spoke true for everyone. The villagers loved to see the young royalties together in a group like this. The elderly knew about the marriage arrangements, and looked forward to a royal wedding. They loved to speculate on the relationship between the four.

"Did you see Princess Haru arguing with Prince Tsunayoshi just now? They are getting along so nicely!"

"Prince Hibari is very kind to Princess Kyoko, is he not?"

"Don't the twins look adorable! So alike..."

"See how Prince Hibari and Prince Tsunayoshi walk side by side? They must be the best of friends!"

Everyone delighted in their company, the awe of meeting a national celebrity never gets old. Most of all was how beautiful they were, though...For Haru had beautiful dark eyes with thick lashes and a vibrant smile. Kyoko was fair and very lovely in the face, her brother the same in almost every respect, except for his thicker, messier hair and boyish features. His large eyes and slim frame could get him mistaken for a girl, though, whereas Hibari was taller than Tsuna by a head. His raven hair contrasted boldly with sharp pale eyes that seemed to always say 'I wish you were dead', and his strangely pale complexion giving him an unearthly beauty to the princes face. They were all breath-takingly beautiful, and handsome, and young. They stole no few of the ladies, and the mens, hearts with their odd trips to the village.

As feared, on this day Tsuna and Hibari were fated once again to wait outside many shops for the princess's to browse. Worse, they never came out with anything straight away, so it seemed like they were waiting for nothing at all! (The items wanted were mostly sent to the castle later in the day).

By the time they made it to their destination it was lunchtime, and the majesties were looking forward to the grapes.

The farm came into sight at the edge of town, and it was exactly as they remembered it, if not a little smaller to their older eyes. They walked up to the little house with vines growing up it and a green door, feeling welcomed by the homely feel to it. Haru was the one to knock, though it got no reply.

"Do you think they've gone out?" Kyoko said, when Haru knocked again to no reply.

"We've come all this way, there must be _someone_ in!" She rapt in the door for the third time, louder and more impatient than the rest.

"I-piiiin." A low voice called from the inside of the house. "Door!"

"Ah, coming!" Called a muffled girls voice, followed by a cry and a large crash of what sounded like pans, and some smaller crashes of something like glass breaking.

"Nevermind. I'll get it!" Said the males voice lazily, sounding close to the door, and a moment later it finally opened.

A young man stood before them, dressed in black trousers and a cow print shirt. His raven bed-head of hair flicked out to cover one of his heavy lidded bedroom eyes, which were a bright green and looked at the four majesties at the door with a bored expression on his face.

"Can I help you?" He said, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door frame.

Haru and Kyoko looked at him with little stars in their eyes. He was...so cool!

"Hello!" She clasped her hands together and said in a really cute voice, "erm...this is the Bonvino farm, right? Is Mrs. Bovino in?"

"My mothers gone shopping, it's just me and the girl." Said the guy, "Nice to see you again, Your Majesties. Would you like to come in?"

"Mrs. Bovino's your mother?" Tsuna said, "You're her son?"

Everyone stared at him for the stupidness of such a question. "Yeah..." The teen said slowly, as though to a child. "She's my mother, I'm her son, that's how it works, right?"

"You're Lambo?!" Tsuna cried, "no way!"

"Well I was the last time I checked," Lambo said, moving a side from the door to let them in, "though it's hard to keep track sometimes, what with me switching places with my younger self at times."

"But...you've grown!" Tsuna said dumbly.

"It's been ten years, young Vongola." Lambo said, "it was bound to happen."

"I mean...you've matured." Tsuna back-tracked, only realizing too late how utterly retarded he sounded. But he was just really surprised! This cool, handsome guy was nothing like the snot nosed kid that stole his grapes from him! "I mean, changed a lot. Since the last time. I mean back then you were...back then I was...never mind." He blushed, painfully conscious of how dumb he was being.

"Ah, I apologize for my younger, less civilized five year old self." Lambo said, leading them into the kitchen, "I was rather thoughtless, I must admit. Please take a seat, your majesties." He gestured to the kitchen table and drew one up for himself, when Hibari caught his attention. "Are you not going to take a seat, your majesty?"

"I am comfortable here." He said, and stood like a statue watching over them. Lambo shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, your majesties?"

"Well, we've just come to say hi, really! And wondered if we could have some of your famous grapes for lunch." Haru said, a little shyly now.

"Ah, it's the grapes, is it?" said the boy. "I-pin? Have you finished cleaning up yet?"

"I'm finished!" said the girls voice again, "I just finished – oh, hello, your majesties!"

The girl blushed and bowed, and when she looked up they saw she had a pretty little face, and was dressed like a maid. She bowed very low, too. "I'm sorry for not opening the door right away! I was out delivering something to next door, so I didn't hear anything, and then when I was just about to answer it I dropped the-"

"It's fine, it's fine, you don't have to explain or get upset over it." Kyoko soothed with her calm voice, "it's nice to see you again, I-pin. It's been a while!"

"Yes it has!" I-pin said, and then her eyes were drawn to Hibari.

"H-hello, Prince Hibari!" She stuttered a little too loudly, her face turning bright red.

Tsuna heard the shy tone in her voice and sensed straight away that she must have a crush on Hibari, which was only affirmed throughout their stay there. She kept glancing up at him from beneath her eyelashes and trying to talk to him while the four of them were shown around the farm by Lambo and I-pin.

He started to get a little jealous. Tsuna would never get such looks from a girl, after all. Being so small with his ugly high set nose and wide mouth. 'Cute' is not the same as 'handsome', and is just a kind way of saying to a boy that 'you will always be a friend' material with your less-than-average-looks. Hibari was tall, dark and very handsome, and very strong. He knew a lot about a lot of things, was good at almost everything he did, was exciting, though sometimes very scary, to be with...Tsuna was as dull as mud and boring to be around.

Before he realized it Tsuna had been thinking of Hibari throughout the whole time they were at the farm before the cold air penetrated his thoughts and made him shiver. But hadn't it been hot a minute ago?

"Is it just me, or has it gotten a lot cooler all of a sudden?" He said aloud, rubbing his bare arms.

Hibari craned his neck to look at the graying sky. "We should be there soon. Those clouds don't look as friendly anymore."

"Yeah, maybe we...should...hey," Tsuna suddenly realized that it was just him and Hibari walking the way back home again. They had already passed through the town and were on their way on the path through the fields back to the castle. No one else was in sight. "Where has everybody gone?"

"The girls had already left with Lambo and I-pin, about twenty minutes before us." Hibari said. "You were staring at nothing, so I left you there and you followed."

"What, and they didn't even bother to wait for us, after all the waiting we've done for them?" Tsuna cried, "I don't believe those two!"

And as though heeding to his internal emotions, it started to rain.

"Ah, it was sunny a moment ago!" Tsuna cried, cringing at the coldness of it. "What is this, witch-craft?"

"There's shelter over there." Hibari said, and started walking towards a tree squatting on the side of the dirt road further up. Tsuna spotted where he was heading towards and started running towards it, tugging Hibari by the sleeve as he went.

"Hurry up, Hibari! We're going to get soaked!" He said, and in response Hibari merely shrugged off the jacket he was wearing and held it over his head. "What good is that going to do!" Tsuna cried, but Hibari only continued marching. Instead of running ahead without him Tsuna ducked under the jacket too, and they made their way to the tree in Hibari's own good time.

Underneath the tree was only partly dry, as rain drops fell through the gaps in the leaves, but better than no shelter at all. Tsuna crouched down by the trunk to get warm and Hibari stood beside him, shaking his jacket off. "It doesn't look like the type of rain that will last very long, it's so heavy," said Tsuna, and then shuddered. "Ugh, I'm wet all over after all," he moaned, "I knew that jacket wouldn't do us any good. We should have run for it, we wouldn't be this wet if you hadn't taken your time!"

"A little rain cannot harm a prince." Hibari said, "and a prince should not be seen running away from the rain as though afraid of it, like a commoner."

_Ah, is that it? I should have known Hibari would say something like that. _Tsuna thought to himself. "That's no good reason to get cold and wet"

"You could have run ahead for yourself, if that is how you really feel." Hibari said quietly. Tsuna looked up in surprise, since they hadn't said anything for a minute now. Was he still thinking about it?

"Well, I guess, I-I didn't want to just leave you to get all wet by yourself. It didn't seem...right." Tsuna said nervously, not sure what he meant. He felt Hibari's eyes on him and saw that familiar unreadable expression on his face. Tsuna looked away, feeling embarrassed.

"That's no good reason to get cold and wet." Hibari said.

Tsuna was so surprised by the response that he laughed under his breath. He didn't know why he found it funny, but he did. "I guess so!" He grinned, and felt a lot better about it. He felt Hibari slide down the trunk to crouch on his heels next to Tsuna. Beside him now, Hibari could feel Tsuna's cool skin shaking against his shoulder. His eyes narrowed and he frowned at his discomfort.

"Do you think the girls are okay?" Tsuna said out of nowhere.

Hibari glanced at Tsuna, thinking how typical it was for him to think of others in his situation. "They have a half an hour head start on us. No doubt they've made it back to the castle by now." Hibari replied, "besides, Haru has her umbrella with her."

"Ah, yes. That's a relief, then." He sighed.

They didn't say anything for a while. Fat droplets rolled from the leaves of the tree, dripping a little onto their heads. Tsuna shivered as one slipped down his shirt color. "Ah, cold!" he exclaimed, leaning back onto the trunk a little to get rid of the feeling.

Tsuna's hair was still as lively as ever, having been protected by Hibari's jacket. His shirt clung to his body in wrinkles though, making him look skinny and boy-like, with strands of hair plastered to his cheek bones. He didn't look anything like a prince.

Suddenly Tsuna felt a heavy material being draped over him. Hibari stood up and crossed his arms, leaned against the tree. "Hibari? Wha-"

"You'll catch cold like that." He said, gesturing to Tsuna's state at the moment. "You are much too skinny."

"I am not wearing much more than yourself!" Tsuna said, noticing that Hibari only wore a long sleeved white shirt. The way it stuck see-through to his body was the only indicator that he was wet himself, and he had crossed his arms as though it was his final decision. Even with just that, he looked like a king.

"But, if that is how you feel about it," Tsuna said, blushing a little. "at least sit down, since it's warmer when you do." But Hibari didn't move. Tsuna used his secret technique instead, "Unless you're afraid to get your trousers muddy. I understand that a prince is told not to get them dirty, and especially your mother..."

Hibari suddenly sat down cross legged on the grass without a second thought. "No one tells me what to do, herbivore." He growled, and Tsuna tried to keep a straight face over his triumph. He was amazed that it worked as easily as it did. Surely Hibari had noticed his tactics by now? He'd used them since they were kids, after all.

_Hibari's eyes snapped open and narrowed dangerously. "Scared?" _

"_The fish won't hurt you, and water is just water!" Tsuna said, splashing his hands for effect. "Or maybe it's that you cannot swim?" Tsuna did not sense the danger he was in using such words. "It's warm and it's-" SPLISSSH!_

_Hibari jumped right into the river in his shirt and trousers before Tsuna even realized what he was doing, splashing everyone. He then swam flawlessly up to Tsuna (and he could barely touch the bottom!), and went right up to his face to say, "I fear nothing, herbivore. Say such things again and I will definitely b-blub!"_

"_THAT's the spirit, your highness!" Said the King, dunking the kids head below the water. "Isn't this fun?"_

Tsuna giggled to himself at the memory. Yes, even when they were kids, Hibari would never back down from what he saw as a challenge.

Tsuna sat right up to Hibari until they were very much side by side. "It's a little warmer this way, isn't it?" he said quietly. Hibari blushed a little, and tried not to look at him. He felt very much warmer, though he felt it was due to something somewhat different than to what Tsuna had in mind. ,

Hibari recalled a time when Tsuna would have cried over something like this. Tsuna had matured.

Suddenly Tsuna felt a hand snake behind him around his waist, and he was pulled a little into the crook of Hibari's shoulder. Tsuna's eyes widened.

"It's a little warmer this way, isn't it?" Hibari said quietly into Tsuna's ear. Tsuna was very glad that Hibari couldn't see his bright red face just then. Unable to speak, he nodded, and he felt Hibari's arm squeeze gently as if to hold him closer.

For a while he could not stop himself from tensing up, his thoughts becoming white noise in his head. What the hell! What is he doing!? Oh my GOD, Hibari...why is he holding me so strangely!

To distract himself, Tsuna tried to think of something to occupy his mind. I wonder what's for dinner today? Probably not Salmon fish, we had that yesterday. I wonder if it's true that fish tastes better if you catch it yourself. Dad's pretty good at catching fish. So is Hibari, but he doesn't like it very much, being a King-to-be and all that.

But Tsuna knew that deep down, Hibari never wanted to be king. He could still remember that day when Hibari had confessed that to him....it was a while ago now, but it seemed like it was only the other day. He confessed, right after the worst period of knowing him. After all that mistreatment, for Tsuna, it was like sunshine at the end of months and months of monsoon season.

As though, everything that Tsuna had perceived him to be before that moment was shattered, and his perspective was irrevocably shifted following those words, so that Tsuna could not see him the same way anymore. Suddenly Tsuna felt closer to him, less of a nuisance and more like a brother. Hibari became more touchable, more...human.

Tsuna tried to recall all the times Hibari had claimed it wasn't 'princely' or 'kingly' to do something or other. It stunned him a little – not just because the idea of a prince not wanting to be king was incredulous, since he himself had always rejected the idea, for obvious reasons, his incompetence and cowardice to name a few – but because Hibari _was_ a king, through and through. He was perfect, and what's more, he had never shown any inclination to not wanting to be king before that day.

Tsuna almost wanted to laugh. Hibari and him...were more similar than he once thought. When he thought about it, it wasn't like they had nothing in common. They were both princes for a start, raised in neighbouring countries under similar circumstances. Neither of them were average (Given, Tsuna being way below and Hibari being way above), and that abnormality sometimes led to feelings of isolation and loneliness – Tsuna was not the most social creature you would find. Though friendly, he was terribly shy, and Hibari was downright anti-social all together. They both liked little kids, and they both hated being cold. Just little things like that.

(_A/N: A good song here: **Maybe – Yiruma, **can be found on youtube. Such a beautiful song!)_

The rain fell with a muffled patter on the leaves above them, and curtained all around them underneath the tree. The air smelt metallic fresh, but mostly Tsunas senses were filled with Hibari, subtle and familiar. Without realizing that he had been, Tsuna eventually stopped shivering. Then the rain began to thin. It faded into odd drops, and the shadow underneath the tree became darker as the grass Tsuna could see began to sparkle in the sunlight, the world becoming brighter.

"Er...Hibari? The rain has stopped." Tsuna said attentively. With Hibari's arm still wrapped around him, Tsuna turned around saw that he was asleep.

"This guy – I thought he was a light sleeper!" Even so, Tsuna knew by experience that to wake a sleeping Hibari was begging for a beating. So, he sighed a long suffering sigh and sat under the tree in the arms of another prince.

* * *

**A/N:** I know that I said 'a week' but this turned out to be 20pages long somehow :S so I split it up, and the next chapter WILL be a week (cause it's already completed) which gives me time to write the NEXT one to follow the week after, so you guys get a chapter every couple of weeks (instead of months) and I can get this work over with. I got exams coming up, so I'd rather get this out of the way instead of letting it eat into my revision time. Ja ne x


	11. Bloom 2

**I see him smiling and my doubts are gone**

**

* * *

  
**

"AAAAHHHH-CHOU!"

It turned out that Hibari was the one who ended up catching a cold after all. The next morning he had been coughing and sneezing, but had trained anyway, and had gone straight to bed feeling faint and with a high fever by noon.

"Trust you to make yourself worse, Hibari! You shouldn't have trained with such a high temperature. What if you'd died!"

Hibari looked at Tsuna with that 'are you an idiot?' expression of his, making Tsuna blush. "Okay, maybe not died, that is a bit extreme. But it couldn't have felt very good! You should just stay in bed when you're sick."

"Kings don't get sick." Came the hoarse reply, followed by a small coughing fit.

"Are you kidding me? You're still human, aren't you?" Tsuna sighed. But Hibari only said that out of habit now, he was sure. Tsuna sat beside him in a chair that he'd asked brought in from his room. He felt bad that although the prince was sick, none of the servants were keeping him company. He could understand that they were busy, (or maybe terrified of disturbing him, which was probably the case) but then shouldn't they be worried? Hibari had all but passed out on the sparring ground. "It's because you gave me the jacket." Tsuna said suddenly.

Hibari opened one eye to peer at him, then closed it.

"And then you fell asleep in damp clothes. It serves you right, really."

"You could have woken me."

"And risked death! No thank-you. I'd rather just let you sleep and risk getting a cold myself. I didn't think you'd catch one instead, though..." he drifted off. Hibari seemed so invincible to Tsuna, it was...disconcerting to see him in bed with a fever. Thinking back to the tree made him wonder about something.

"Hibari, back then...you, erm. Your arm..." he made the action of putting it round his waist. "Why did you...do that?"

Hibari didn't open his eyes. "It seemed like a good idea at the time," he replied.

"...I see." There was an uncomfortable silence. Tsuna shifted in his seat. "You know, back at my own kingdom when I was ill, everyone had been fussing and disturbing me so that I could never get any rest, just giving me a headache. 'Too many cooks spoil the broth', I think. It was terrible – they could have killed me!" Hibari didn't respond. "I mean to say – maybe it's better to be able to actually rest when you're sick. I would prefer to be a lone when I am ill, is what I'm trying to say." Suddenley he felt uncomfortable. "Do you want another grape?" he added.

Still no response. Tsuna started to worry that he'd fallen asleep, and that any wrong move now would wake him up.

"Do...do you want me to leave?" He asked quietly. He was surprised to see the slight shake of Hibari's head, and thought he'd imagined it, but then Hibari opened his steel eyes for a moment before closing them again. That was Hibari speak for 'don't even think about it', he was sure.

Hibari wasn't sure why he shook his head at the offer for peace and quiet rather than the airy chatter Tsuna was in the mood for. He liked the atmosphere, he supposed. He felt relaxed when this guy was around, and felt like he could probably sleep better, so long as he shut up. He knew that even though Tsuna said 'it would be nice to be alone when you are ill', he really only said that to try and comfort him, in his own Tsuna-way. In truth, Tsuna probably knew that he didn't feel comfortable being a lone in a vulnerable state. What's more, in turn, though he said that, Hibari knew that Tsuna wasn't the type to like being alone at _all –_ Tsuna was the type who needs people to live happily.

Very soon after that, Hibari did fall into an uncomfortable sleep. He had a vague impression of a series of dreams, and blurry intervals where the a cold damp clothe was pressed to his forehead, or soothing touches to his heated bare arms and feverish skin. He also had a very, very strange dream. He was up in a tree watching a unique orange and lilac sunset, and selfishly wanted to keep it to himself, and when he looked around he saw with relief that only Hibird was in the tree with him, but he had a spiky nest of brown hair on his head, and on closer inspection Hibari realized it was actually Tsuna sitting beside him.

Another one quickly followed, though this one was more of a memory, in which he was seated in a familiar place on top of the Namimori church with Kyoko seated beside him. He felt an unexplainable need, like you do in dreams, to relieve himself with someone right now, but only Kyoko was there, which made him frustrated. She was looking very unsure of herself and fidgeting in such a familiar way, though, that he lifted up her dress to check. "What are you doing, Hibari!" said Tsuna, and Hibari was so relieved that it was him and not his sister, that he kissed him full hard on the lips.

That one faded oddly into nighttime all of a sudden, and Tsuna was still sitting beside him, but he was very pale and afraid, and staring up at the moon with wide eyes. Hibari looked up too and realised that they were no longer on top of a roof, but amongst some trees, and that before them was a lake. With the sudden fear that something terrible, something horrible was about to happen, Hibari grabbed Tsuna by the icy hand and began to pull him away from the lake. "You're not jumping in!" He said for some reason, but then a restraining hand was placed on his chest. He spun round in askance and saw Tsuna with a sinister grin on his face, his eyes narrowed into slits, one eye blue, the other red. "What's wrong, Hibari?" said the low not-Tsuna voice, and blackness started to spread wildly from the tips of the once beautiful chestnut hair, the face altering, the skin paling. The thing cocked it's head to the side in amusement. "Kufufu, how interesting. You can see me?" Said the man, now not Tsuna at all, but a tall boy dressed in night-colored clothes and cloak, black gloves, and mis-matched eyes. Hibari had reached for his tonfa but found he couldn't move. Suddenly the demon lunged at Hibari, clutching his shoulders and rattling him like a rag doll, shouting "Hibari! HIBARI!"

Hibari's eyes opened with a snap, and his tonfa sprung to life before he could stop it. He felt it collide with something human, followed by a yelp of pain from the darkness.

"OW, Hibari! Are you trying to kill me?"

Hibari shot up in bed and peered to the floor, and sure enough, he could just make out the figure of Tsuna sprawled on the carpet, clutching his cheek.

"I'm sorry I had to wake you, I know you hate that – but you were having a nightmare!"

"...I was?"

"Yeah, you were. Can't you..." Tsuna felt upon climbing back onto the chair he'd brought up to the bed that Hibari was shaking a little. His hand moved to his shoulder supportingly. "Are you alright, Hibari? Can you...remember what you dreamed about?"

"No." Hibari tried to recall something, but nothing was coming to his head. Only a vague impression of the colors red and blue, and of something...bad. He felt a little sick, and very thirsty.

"Are you thirsty?" Tsuna said, startling Hibari. Was he a mind reader now? He reached round to the night stand and handed Hibari a glass of water. "Your voice sounds a little dry."

Hibari nodded and took the water gratefully, swallowing it all in heavy gulps. It was nighttime, and the moon flooded the room in an eerie white glow. Someone had only shut the curtains half way, it seemed.

"You woke me up." Tsuna said once he'd finished. "Grabbed my arm really hard, like this..." Tsuna gestured to a red mark on his arm, and angled it to show Hibari the hand print wrapped around it in the moodlight. "You did that! Grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I thought you were having a fit or something because of your fever. You weren't having a fit, were you?"

Hibari didn't even dignify that question with an answer. Just glared at him in the semi-darkness, the shadows cast over his ghost pale face making him look all the more sinister in the half-light.

"I guess not." Tsuna said in a little voice. "That's a relief. It was just a nightmare?"

Once again, Hibari couldn't answer. He couldn't remember anything...though vague impressions of a tree, a roof, maybe...there was a moon.

"What time is it?" Hibari asked instead.

Tsuna shrugged. "It was day time last thing I remember. I must have dozed off..."

When Hibari continued to just sit there and look around, Tsuna moved forward and put a hand to his forehead and one on his own. "You still feel hot, Hibari. You should maybe get some more sleep if you can."

Hibari did feel exhausted, even though he had slept the full day away, it seemed. He lay back down without protest and pulled the cover back over him, when something occurred to him.

"You've been here the whole time?" He asked Tsuna.

"Er...no, I left for a bit. I had to go down for dinner and stuff, and my lessons, but I came back in the evening, since it was so quiet and peaceful in here, and I must have fallen asleep."

Hibari closed his eyes in acknowledgment. "You can leave now."

"Oh!" Tsuna exclaimed. "I...yeah, I guess I should. Then, are you okay? Do you need anything before I go?"

"No."

"Okay then, well, good night, Hibari. I hope you feel better in the morning." Tsuna whispered, and crept over to the door. He opened and peered around it, hesitating. Then he quickly disappeared, and the room was silent.

Not even twenty seconds later, the door burst open and Tsuna shot in and snapped the door shut with his back pressed against it.

"What is it?" Hibari asked lazily, not even bothering to lift his sore head.

"Erm... nothing! It's nothing. Er...I think, I don't mind, I mean...do you mind if I just, sleep in here tonight?" He stuttered nervously.

Hibari narrowed his eyes, but immediately saw past it. "Are you scared of the dark, herbivore?"

"Ah well...that is...s-something like that." Tsuna shook, climbing into the chair and curling up into it. "I won't be a bother. I'll just sleep here."

Hibari watched as Tsuna tried to get into a comfortable sleeping position on the chair, but his feet kept slipping off the edge, and he didn't have a blanket or anything to cover him. Hibari turned his back to him and tried to ignore the shuffling.

That didn't last long though, either. Hibari shuffled over to one side of the king sized bed, leaving the warm space for the cold space and shivering at the coolness against his fevered bare back, but it didn't feel unpleasant. "Come here", he said aloud.

Tsuna looked at him in askance. "Come where?"

Hibari pulled back the bedsheets in a wide arch of material to reveal the mattress beneath. "You won't be able to get back to sleep in that chair."

Tsuna looked stunned. "...What?"

"Just get in, herbivore, before I BITE you to death."

"Eee! Yes, Hibari!" And Tsuna hurriedly crawled into bed with him and pulled up the covers. It was incredibly hot in the bed, especially since he was in the spot that Hibari had been occupying. Hibari's body heat had warmed it up for him already. And now he was sharing the bed with him.

"G-good night, Hibari." Tsuna whispered. There was no reply, but then, Tsuna hadn't really been expecting one. He smiled to himself and snuggled into the blankets, and soon feel asleep.

Hibari also tried to fall asleep after that, but as drained as he felt, he was uncomfortable. He was either too hot or too cold, itchy from the sweat over his feverish body and aching. Worse, he felt weak from not eating anything all day, and his throat was still sore from the flu. This was the first time Hibari was ever sick in his life.

Hibari twisted over restlessly, and there was Tsuna, lying on his back beside him. He was breathing evenly, and Hibari watched the rhythmic fall and swell of his chest for a while. The sky outside was lighter now, it was closer to morning, and cast softer shadows over his glowing face.

Tsuna was not particularly beautiful or handsome, like Hibari was. Tsuna had a certain 'cuteness' and sensuality about him - his full lips, the warmth of his light caramel eyes, the wild hair – his imperfections were endearing – whereas Hibari was considered so beautiful as to be considered untouchable, like a fine china cup that was fated to be put on a high shelf to be admired. Look, but don't touch. And with time, Hibari had become as cold and hard in the acts of love as that fine china cup.

Yet this one...he is so honey warm and kind. It was too cliché to say that it felt to Hibari as though his cold heart melted whenever he was touched by the words of this one, since they are so sincere and strong.

So tempting. He was just so tempting – Hibari recalled the kiss from his dreams. Yes, he remembered that, if not the dream that followed. He recalled the way he had held him close earlier that day, during the rain beneath the tree – remembered thanking the heavens for opening onto them – remembered Tsuna, pressed against him, his tiny body shaking like a little bird.

Without realizing it, Hibari had been leaning slowly closer and closer to Tsuna's face, and his eyes were on his lips. When he woke up from his trance to find this, their faces at such close proximity, he immediately pulled away and stumbled out of bed. He now felt both physically and emotionally spent, and yet he was now more awake than ever, his heart beating wildly against his chest, his head aching from exertion.

The ache reminded him of his illness – of coarse, he had a fever. That was the reason for all these strange emotions he was feeling. The fever was the reason he was thinking strange things. The fever...

It was just before dawn now. The first bands of sunlight were illuminating the horizon. He crossed the room and pulled the curtains shut with the cord. Then he felt around for his night gown thrown over his chair, and set out for the kitchen, where he knew the first few servants would just be getting up.

He heard soft voices upon approaching the royal kitchen, and sure enough, there were two servants already up and preparing for the day. But no, one of them wasn't a servant at all...

"Oh, good morning, Hibari!" Dino beamed, "I didn't think you'd be up for sparring so soon. Feeling better already?"

Hibari said nothing, not trusting his sore throat, which he was sure would betray his current state of illness. Rather than reveal he was still so sick, he opted for silence, and took seat on a stool on one of the work surfaces.

"Would you like something to eat, your majesty?" said Bianchi, offering him the fruit bowl. Hibari reached for an apple and took a bite.

"Did the fever take away your voice? Or perhaps you're still half asleep, hm?" Dino grinned, his head in his hands. Hibari hated Dino when he was in one of _those_ moods. Right now, he could tell, he was in one of those moods. "Did Tsuna eventually go back to his own bed? Or is he still dead to the world beside your bed?"

Crunch, went Hibari, into his apple. Dino just grinned, and yawned widely.

"It's too early." He groaned, and slumped into his arms. "Why get up so early, Prince Hibari, when you could have had a lie-in today? I wasn't about to give you your daily wake up call when you were sick."

"I remember the last time I was sick very well." Bianchi said suddenly, rolling a pastry. "I was near death for several weeks."

"You lie." Dino said, not raising his head from the table. "You've lived here your whole life, and I've never known you to be as sick as that."

"It wasn't that type of sickness, and it was much more dangerous. it attacks the heart and soul directly, and numbs the mind, leaving only the body functioning in automaton. The only way to keep myself alive was to work, so you wouldn't have noticed it. I still came into work in my incapacitated state."

"How noble of you." Dino said. "And pray tell, what kind of other-worldly sickness were you suffering from?"

"Love sickness."

"Ah, of coarse." Dino grinned. "I should have guessed. And by any chance, was your Romeo the cause of it?"

"That bastard! Don't even mention his name to me! God no, I would never let such a pathetic, unworthy man affect me to the core!"

"Oops, oh yes, I forgot. Your other lover is hardly ever around, so he slips my mind sometimes. It was my former tutor, wasn't it? Have you heard from him lately?"

"I heard a rumour that he will be returning soon, though no one knows when. Oh, I can't wait! My darling Reborn, oh how I've missed you..." She swooned, holding the rolling pin to her breast like a little baby, and getting flour on her apron.

"Just a rumour and you've already made all these?" Dino said, gesturing to the pile of heart shaped cookies and jam tarts on the cooling rack behind him. "You sure you're not still suffering from love sickness?"

"It's incurable, of coarse I still suffer from it. But I have learnt to cope with it after all these years." She picked up the heart shaped dough cutter she had been using and proceeded to cut out hearts into the dough she'd been rolling. "And beware, it's highly contagious."

"Is that so?" Dino said, still smiling. "If that's the case I better avoid these young ones. I can almost smell the pheromones in the air recently, it's practically saturated in it."

"Summer is the season of love, so of coarse the air will be filled with it's radiance."

"Ah, but summer is almost over. King Iemitsu and his children will be leaving soon." Dino sighed dramatically. "The kingdom always seems more empty when they leave for the autumn." There was a period of silence, in which Hibari finished his apple and was reaching for another, as hungry as he was. "Hibari, been interested in anyone lately? You've been at that age for a while now."

In return, he got only a cold look from the prince.

"I guess, you're not ready to share it with me yet?" He said, unfazed. "No matter. I'm sure we'll hear of it sooner or later." Another silence. "Hey, Hibari, did you know that there is such a thing as gay swans?"

Bianchi huffed. "Oh what are you talking about, you idiot?"

"No really, it's true! I read it in a book from the library yesterday, and it stuck with me for some reason. I mean think about it, it's considered so unnatural in some cultures in the world, and yet there it is, a clear part of nature itself. Perhaps the most natural thing in the world. Another effective way of survival. Male swans who love male swans, and spend the rest of their lives together."

At that Hibari stood up abruptly and left the kitchen without so much as a nod in pardon.

"Eh? Was it something I said?"

"That was a disturbing topic of conversation, Dino."

"Why? Why was it disturbing? The fact that swans can be gay, or the topic of homosexuality in general?"

"I always thought men are averse to those sorts of conversations, actually. Homophobic, as it were. A taboo subject."

"No, not for all men. I've never seen it myself, and I don't really understand it, but when I think about a gay man, all I have to do is think of them as a girl wearing a man's body as a meat suit, it becomes a lot easier to handle."

"...that's even more disturbing, Dino."

"Not as disturbing as a gay swan though, right?" He laughed, and they continued their conversation until the rest of the castle began to rise, not twenty minutes later.

* * *

The minute Hibari's head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep. The slight movements he made when creeping into bed had stirred Tsuna, and when Tsuna opened his eyes he could make out the shape of Hibari in the warm darkness, still in bed, no doubt having slept throughout the night. Not wanting to disturb him, Tsuna himself crept out of bed, briefly checked Hibari's temperature, then crept out of the room like a ninja and shut the door quietly behind him.

He yawned, intent on crawling back into his own bed. Now that there was some morning light filling the corridors through the windows, there was no eerie darkness to fear. He wanted to go to bed, but Hibari's fever still burned on his fingertips where he had touched him. Worried, and knowing that the flu should not be taken lightly, he instead set out for the royal nurse, who was also a cook.

Unfortunately, he made the mistake of asking another cook of the whereabouts of the nurse, and that cook was Bianchi. He should have guessed from the pink steam coming from her pot that she was in the middle of a spell, but as established in previous chapters, Tsuna wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. And no sooner had he approached her, she turned cold and heartless towards him.

"Please, I just want to take him some medicine, just to get the fever down. He looks really uncomfortable!"

"Then maybe he'll die."

"How cruel!"

"It's of no consequence to me. People die, Tsuna, they disappear from this earth, and we are powerless to stop it."

The conversation was like this up until the point when the pink smoke faded to blue, and then as though her personality had switched, she suddenly became tolerable. "Here." She said, handing him a cup full of the liquid she'd been boiling. It was clear, like water, yet still dark blue fumes curled up from it. "I was already in the middle of making this for him. You don't need the nurse."

"YOU made this?" Tsuna said, "mm, couldn't you just direct me as to where the nurse is?"

"That will do. Trust me."

Tsuna recalled being turned into a frog by this person, and the crippling stomach aches he'd received over the years thanks to her cooking and his gullible nature for eating them. "Oh, I don't know about that..."

"Listen, Tsuna. I know I've been sharpish with you while I was making that..." _More like evil_, Tsuna thought, "but it was only to ensure that I did it right, and you were distracting me."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bianchi. I didn't mean to..."

"Look. Here's the difficultly of spells, Tsuna. Do you know why witches are so rarely young, yet men can use magic so easily, whether young or old? It's almost ironic, but the reason is this: _the less feeling you put into it, the more powerful a spell is. _

There, I've said it, and it's true. Fuuta puts himself into a trance, my beloved, Reborn, can shut out all feeling, and any old hag that has lost her heart at some point or another can cast spells, with a little know-how. The secret to great magic, or any magic, is no emotion, no passions, no malicious intent, nor good intentions – or the spell will simply not work, or worse, mutate itself.

Now, knowing that, isn't it obvious that young women, who are tender hearted and sensitive by nature, will have some difficulty perfecting a spell? But know this, that when my brother disappeared some years ago, my heart turned hard and cold as granite, and only started to crack when I fell in love some years later. But I can still remember that hardness, that feeling, and it's that hardness within me that makes it possible for me alone to do magic. And that, your majesty, is why you, nor any worthy king, will never be able to do magic. You feel much too much, your heart is much too soft, you're much too warm. And who has ever heard of a heartless king?"

"I...I see."

"And that's why I said those things. There were just cold facts. The prince won't die any time soon, though. That's ridiculous."

"O-okay." Tsuna was more composed now. "It must be painful,then, doing magic?"

"No, it's not. I don't feel anything. That's the point."

"But...what about your brother?"

At this, Bianchi simply turned her back to him completely and ignored him, and that was the end of that. Tsuna knew not to ask questions about that particular subject, but he wished that he could help in some way. She obviously missed her brother very much. He tried to imagine Kyoko disappearing from his life forever, and found that it was indeed very painful.

"By the way, if you tell anyone of what I just told you..." Bianchi turned to glare down at him. "I'll kill you."

_Heartless!_ Tsuna thought internally, but he smiled when she left. At least he knew a little something about her now. She had always been so distant before, and scary. Well, she was still scary, but at least she wasn't so impossible to comprehend anymore.

Deciding that she was truly heartless and without feeling that morning, Tsuna deemed the spell he was holding sufficient for Hibari to consume. He carried it with care back up the stairs, trying not to spill any of it. It smelt very strange, but it was sweet and pleasant, almost like a minty apple juice, he thought. By the time he got to Hibari's bed side, about to put the cup down, he was very tempted to try a bit.

"I better do so...just in case. After all, this is BIANCHI we are talking about. Besides, it smells so good...and Hibari won't miss a sip missing, so what harm can it do?"

And so ofcoarse, as soon as Tsuna had swallowed the first sip, he found that it was so sweet as to be bitter, and so minty hot that it burnt his nose, and then it burnt his stomach, and then he felt his skin heating up, and he immediately collapsed on the bed with a fever and a stomach ache so severe, that he was to be bed ridden and feverish for the rest of the week, alongside Hibari.

He was grateful for not giving it to Hibari after all, since it might have killed him in his weakened state.

* * *

That Autumn, when Tsuna and Kyoko returned to the Vongola kingdom, they are greeted by a stranger.

"Pleased to meet you, your majesty, my name is Reborn. I'll be your home tutor from now on."

* * *

**A/N; Haha, I found this funny and slightly-kind-of-not-really relevant to my fic, so I slipped this in there:**

from Wikipedia: Natural History Museum in Norway called Against Nature explored homosexual behaviours in a number of species, including black swans. Several swan species exhibit lifelong homosocial behaviours where it serves as a flexible life strategy.

In swans, the pair is the central social unit. The birds reinforce the unit with frequent preening and sex.** (:D) **Should one die, the other will usually live out the remainder of its life alone. The pair builds nests, raise cygnets and defends a territory. Two cobs, being bigger and stronger than a cob and a pen, can hold down a larger territory, and provide their cygnets with more to eat.

**I'm going on a class trip to New York tonight!! Whoo! :D**

At this point in the fic it's on the brink of plot line...next chapter, the engagement date is set!


	12. He became a Swan

** Somehow, suddenly, he became a Swan  
**

**

* * *

  
**

In the deepest depths of the Rokudo forest where none intrudes, there is a valley. And in that valley there is a patch of land where no grass or flowers ever grow. Dusty and dry, it expands the size of a football field, with the Rokudo River winding through it. Curious, then, that in such a place, no different from the rest of the forest, and with plenty of water, that nothing should ever grow there.

It is, of course, an illusion. No man can ever stumble upon that barren space and see it for what it truly was, unless they knew what they were looking for to begin with. But if, per chance, one were to somehow penetrate it's supernatural barriers, they would behold something quite remarkable.

All of the students and clubs had probably left by now, and the school grounds was as quiet as the ocean seabed.

A mighty castle looming over a still, clear lake. Though not as big nor as grand as it's neighboring castles belonging to royalty, it was equally as imposing. Dark bricks made the castle walls, the windows were narrow, and it was surrounded by a lush green lake. Dark and depressing it was, and the heavy atmosphere seemed to weigh down the inhabitants. For there were inhabitants of this domain, living in this place made from magic. But there were moments, in this silent place. Incredible moments. Impossible moments.

Moments when the castle, dim and lifeless as it seemed, exploded in a wild frenzy of flowers blooming, blushing and blowing in the up breeze from the crystal waterfall that would erupt from the hills surrounding the castle. These moments were rare and very precious, and only occurred when the master of the castle came home not-alone.

"Would you like us to prepare something for your guest, Master?" Said one of two men standing before the master of the house. One was more animal than beast when he fought, the other as cold as steel.

"Guest? What guest?" The master of the castle scanned the room, as though his minions had brought one in with them.

The girl who never left her masters side spoke for them. "Master, the sky is clear and the sun is smiling, the flowers are in full bloom and the forest is singing with bird song."

"Is there not someone you have brought back with you, today?" Said the cold man, his glasses flashing.

"Nope, not yet, my dear Chikusa. I'm just..experimenting. I'm feeling somewhat creative today." As he said this he tilted his trident in hand slightly, and instantly a coil of rainbow colors appeared and curled around the base of the waterfall. The colors were more clear and distinct than any natural rainbow in the sky, which seemed to please the master."I want him to like it."

"When shall we be expecting him, Master?" The wild one asked. Mukuro smiled to himself.

"Soon." He said, rising to get better view of his new installed heaven. "Very soon."

* * *

The Vongola kingdom was buzzing with anticipation and activity today. A big event was approaching. THE big event was approaching, the promised day.

Although it had been an unspoken inevitability that all four of the young royalties had known about in the back of their minds, it had been announced recently that they were to have an arranged marriage, and that it would take place by the end of the summer at the Namimori castle (since although Vongola's castle was far grander, the Namimori kingdom had the bigger church), and to none other than their 'beloved childhood sweethearts', as Iemitsu had called them.

'Tsuna, Haru will be your blushing bride, and she will be a flourishing queen of this kingdom that she seems to love so well." He had said over breakfast. "And Kyoko, I dare say that Hibari will make you a strong and faithful husband, as he seems to love you as he would a sister.'

The Sawada children loved their father dearly, and he loved them. So, naturally, chaos immediately erupted over the dinner table, shouts of protest and injustice rang through the castle, until finally the King bellowed 'Nonsense! You two needn't be shy! You are old enough to love, and therefore old enough to marry – it's a perfect match for you both! Now go and change into more formal attire – Queen Nana, Prince Hibari and Princess Haru will be arriving soon."

This had been three hours ago, and now the two Vongola heirs sat in the study room, Kyoko pacing up and down in unrest.

This was very unlike her. Usually it was Tsuna doing the worrying, but today...

"Scary! Oh Tsu-kun, I don't want to marry that dragon for a man! He'll bite me to death!" Kyoko stopped her pacing finally and looked up at Tsuna with a forlorn expression, teary eyes piercing Tsuna's kind heart like a needle. She really couldn't bare to marry the beautiful but cold Hibari...but there really was nothing he could do about it.

"Kyoko," he began, "...I-"

"Kill him for me!"

"No way!" Tsuna gasped, pulling away from his crazy sister and stumbling back. "He'll definitely kill me!"

"Die for your country!"

"I don't want to die for anything! You're being unreasonable."

"Then you shall never be the king of Vongola!"

"Where is the connection?!" Tsuna cried in exasperation. "Kyoko, I can't just kill the guy for something that he has no control over. He's in the same position as me, you know...I have to marry his sister. Killing him for marrying you is just savage!"

"Kill?" said a cold voice. It was Hibari, suddenly appeared at the door, "what a good idea." He whispered, and charged at Tsuna with tonfas in hand. "I will bite you to death!"

"Eh?! Why?? What did I do wrong this time??"

"Get him, Hibari! There's no way I'm gonna marry that weakling." Said a familiar voice.

"What the- ", _no way! This guy is gonna kill me over something I have no control over? What's with that! You have got to be kidding me!!!_

He caught sight of Haru standing at the door egging him on, but before he could accuse her of setting her older brother on him for no good reason he had to dodge for his life, for Hibari was upon him in a whirl of tonfa.

Without warning, Tsuna barely dodged the oncoming attack, and though Hibari was deeply surprised about the miss he recovered quickly, writing the dodge off as a lucky miss. However, for the next twenty bone-shattering blows in twenty seconds, not once did he come into contact with any limbs. Only air whistled through his attacks.

Tsuna in turn dived, dodged, jumped, back flipped, leaped onto a table and off it again, causing it to crash, a vase to fall and break, while he landed behind Hibari and spun around just in time to face him and duck from a full on blow to the face. This, Hibari eventually conceded, was no coincidence. And suddenly his fingers tingled as the blood pulsed through his body faster than before, his eyes glittered dangerously. This was a real fight. His first real fight with Tsuna.

The blows that Hibari was sending after Tsuna seemed to cut the air with lethal sharpness. The guy was certainly trying to kill him! Tsuna yelped as a tonfa came frighteningly close to grazing his face.

"Hibari you're being unreasonable! Give me a second to defend myself!"

"Useless," Hibari replied as his tone darkened. "You will be punished thoroughly."

"But I didn't do anything!" Tsuna exclaimed without pausing for an instant, lest instant death befall him.

Hibari completely forgot about the two girls in the room, or even that he was in another kingdom and not his own – all he saw was Tsuna, and when Tsuna threw his first counter attack, a spinning heel kick, he felt so excited and furious at the same time, that he actually smiled as he jumped back from it. It was a toothy smile too, not the croaked half smile that he usually wore. It was a smile that scared the hell out of Tsuna, who now interpreted it as an evil grin, the fore bringer of imminent death.

Hibari saw the way Tsuna's body instantly snapped into a more purposeful stance, and his keen eyes never missed the focusing in Tsuna's own. He stopped his deadly onslaught of attacks, and weighed him up with a practiced eye, suddenly greatly interested in his opponent. Once done, not 2 seconds later, the fight began in earnest with a powerful clash.

"Ts-tsuna?" Haru gasped from her hiding place behind the door. "Is that really him?"

"Yes, that's Tsuna." Kyoko whispered, crouching beside her. "I hope they don't end up killing each other..."

"But how did this happen? He was always such a little wimp before!"

"Ah, well, that would be his home tutor, Reborn." Kyoko said, smiling to herself.

"Reborn? Bianchi's Reborn?"

"Eh? You've heard of him?"

"Bianchi talks of little else. All I know is that he's the Vongola kingdoms magician, the kings other personal adviser and the strongest fighter in the country, aside from Hibari."

"You tagged that Hibari part on by yourself."

"Yes, but it's the truth. You've never seen my brother go all out, but I have. These very bad men some time ago in winter, when we sailed to another country, tried to grab me for a ransom. Once Hibari was done with them, there was nothing left. The place is called 'Aka Yuki' by the people who live there now."

"Aka Yuki?"

"Crimson snow in their language."

"Ew! What a morbid name."

"Yes, it's primitive but accurate. I didn't know there was so much blood in the human body."

"Oh, don't say anymore, Haru! That's disgusting! How come I've never heard of this before?"

"I knew you wouldn't like it. But...I forgot about not telling you just now, so I told you anyway. Sorry about that Kyoko. Tell me about Reborn."

"I don't feel like it anymore. I'm more worried for my brother all of a sudden. I had no idea Hibari could be so brutal!"

"Only when you try to take what is his, or worse, you break discipline. Tsuna is safe from dying, since he hasn't really done anything wrong. In fact, look. Hibari's in a good mood today. He's having so much fun right now!"

"Fun?" Even as Kyoko watched, Tsuna managed to make a well placed kick to Hibari's chest using Hibari's momentum for extra power, sending Hibari flying through the air. He landed into the book case of the study, which wobbled dangerously. Tsuna saw what was about to happen and ran forward to pull Hibari out of the way, but Hibari grabbed him by the ankle as he approached and yanked him under it just as it was about to fall, rolling out of the danger of the falling bookcase himself. It was no small structure, either, the study books being that of law and philosophy. Dust filled the air as the heavy wall thundered to the ground. Hibari stood still, waiting, tense, before the feeling of victory overwhelmed his sharpened senses.

His ears pricked at the sound of coughing through the cloud of dust, and instantly his tonfa was smashed into the stone wall and inch from Tsuna's face. Tsuna took one look at the metallic weapon embedded into the wall near his head and almost fainted. But Hibari was merciless, and the next attack forced Tsuna to use the tonfa as a lever to swing up and send a kick to Hibari's face, which missed, but at least Tsuna was standing on this embedded tonfa now, out of Hibari's direct line of attack. He jumped from his metal standing point and landed like a ninja behind Hibari, who turned to face him eerily slowly. Tsuna despaired that Hibari was not out of breath whereas he himself was panting heavily, but then he noticed the sweat on Hibari's forehead. He was at least straining himself. But Tsuna could take little comfort from this, as Hibari launched at him again full throttle.

"He doesn't look very happy to me." Kyoko muttered.

"Don't worry about it. Don't you have faith in your brother? Or more accurately, his brothers home tutor? I want to hear about him! How could your brother have changed so much as to be capable of holding out this long with Hibari?"

"Well, my education is always fairly good, but Tsuna was always lagging behind. So father asked an old friend of his, that's Reborn, to return home from his travels to train the heir to his kingdom."

"And of course he couldn't say no."

"Actually, he could, and he did. But he came home anyway to see how things were, and when he saw Tsuna, I think he took pity on him or something. Or maybe he just loves a challenge. Either way, the training started the second they first met – Reborn immediately pummeled Tsuna for not recognizing him upon first meetings, even though we hadn't seen the man since we were three. Then, while our father was out of the kingdom for some business, he kidnapped me and told Tsuna a lie, so that it was Tsuna who had to rescue me.

I think Tsuna was surprised at his own ability, or lack thereof, but having seen that Tsuna had the will, or a good heart, or whatever it was Reborn was looking for in his test – Tsuna passed, even though he didn't actually manage to rescue me in the end. And from that day forward, all this time he has barely slept, and instead he has been climbing icy cliff faces in December, chopping wood by himself instead of the servants doing it in autumn, and gathering falling apples from the trees at harvest by himself. If he let even one apple in that orchard fall to the ground, Reborn threatened to turn him into goo. I don't know what he meant by that, but it was very effective. In fact, this spring, Tsuna came home white as a sheet, with very sticky honey hands. Apparently he had been running away from a bear in the woods, because Reborn left him in the woods for a week, and told him to find a cave to sleep in. I didn't know the truth of that statement, but Tsuna doesn't sleep with his teddy bear anymore."

"Tsuna sleeps with a teddy bear?"

"Not anymore he doesn't."

There was a crash as Tsuna flipped Hibari over his shoulder and Hibari grabbed his arms before he fell, tossing Tsuna over so that they both fell to the floor, effectively breaking the table into splintered pieces.

"This Reborn person sounds evil." Haru said.

"Yes, Tsuna says that a lot too. He was relieved when he was gone."

"Reborn has gone again?"

"Yes, and no one knows for how long this time."

"Aww." Haru pouted, and for a moment was distracted by the shattering of glass in the study. Kyoko vaguely wondered whether the king would be very angry over the complete destruction of this room, though he'd never seemed bothered about such things before. He rarely got angry at them over anything.

"Are you _really _going to marry my brother?" Haru said suddenly.

"Are you seriously going to marry mine?" Kyoko replied.

"If Tsuna can defeat Hibari, then I guess I wouldn't mind so much to be his wife, since he won't be a weakling anymore."

"If Hibari is defeated by Tsuna, then I suppose he would not seem so scary to me anymore, and I know he can be a gentleman. I wouldn't mind being Hibari's wife, if that was the case."

"Hmm. Shall we go and get something to eat? You haven't offered me any food since I got here!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Haru. I didn't get a chance...yes, let's go. How was your journey?"

"Long as ever! How long do you think those two will be fighting for?"

"For as long as it takes."

Even as the two said this while walking away, they missed the change that was occurring in the fight. So far it hadn't lasted more than two minutes, and the effects of such explosive attacks was beginning to show.

Before Hibari even had time to recover from a fall, a punch was laid to the side of his head and the prince was knocked completely off of the window seat he had landed on, sending him sprawling on the hard wood floor.

His tonfa were knocked out of reach and his head was reeling, but Hibari was not a man to take such an affront lightly. He grit his teeth against the blood that poured from the inside of his cheek, spat on the floor. He stood and lunged for Tsuna with his fists. It should be a simple matter to reach his weapons, a step to the side, a lunge and roll and he would have them. Tsuna would go down.

The taller boy was sadly mistaken however and Tsuna lunged right back, spinning on a bare heel at the last moment to slam his knee into the soft of Hibari's stomach. In the tiny pause, he skipped back and landed a second kick, with the flat of his foot square and hard to the Hibari's breastplate.

Hibari dropped to one knee with a pained huff of breath, one hand reaching to the floor for support as he fought to return the oxygen to his lungs. He didn't understand how it was possible for Tsuna to be so strong. He should have been able to beat him easily, hadn't he trained enough in that past? When he looked up again, his eyes burned with rage, his calm evaporating as he met the steel determination in Tsuna's own gaze. "I'll bite you to death," he hissed, pushed to his feet once more.

They pushed against one another, a brief battle of strength. Then Tsuna's hands yanked Hibari forward, and he met that pull with his own head, his forehead connecting solidly with Hibari's.

Hibari gasped, flecks of blood staining his lips and Tsuna's shirt-front. Hibari wouldn't cry out, not even the threat of death would force such a sound from his throat and this, this was nothing even near to death. So he choked on a breath and felt his neck wrench backward as Tuna held him in a head lock, bending him backwards for the height difference. Hibari twisted, spun around and broke Tsuna's hold. Though his vision blurred and the bones of his forearms burned like fire, Hibari surged forward, heedless of the blood pouring from his lips and brow.

The air hissed as Tsuna dodged. It was all the leverage he needed and he launched himself violently from the surface of a wall, connecting with such force against the other body that they skidded in a tangle across the floor until Tsuna slammed Hibari's shoulders down. Tsuna's small body straddled him at the waist.

It took a moment for Hibari to realize that he couldn't breathe -- that one of his own tonfa that Tsuna had picked up was being pressed hard against his windpipe.

Hibari could only stare, wide-eyed and unmoving as the air was crushed from his lungs and his only means of filling them again cut off by his very own weapon. He didn't seem to be able to move his arms as Tsuna's knees were pinning them to the floor, or perhaps they were broken, it was hard to tell. All he could do was stare. And choke. And wait as the black began to creep into the edges of his vision.

Quite suddenly the tightness eased, letting oxygen flood into Hibari's lungs, the tonfa leaving an angry, purpling welt when Tsuna yanked it away.

Hibari's frame shuddered as his body struggled to breathe and his eyes slid closed for just a moment. It took far too long to find his center once more, with every fiber of his body protesting any unnecessary thought or movement. "Get. Off," he mouthed, his voice not yet returned, but his face an angry red as the blood rushed back beneath his skin.

Instantly, Tsuna scrambled back until his back hit the desk he'd just leapt from, staring wide-eyed at the injured prince as he clutched the ring and chain to his chest. "Are--are you okay?" he squeaked, barely managing to get his voice to appear. "I'm sorry! Should I get a doctor--"

Hibari gave Tsuna a piercing look, one that Tsuna instantly translated as 'I may be in this state, but I WILL bite you to death if you do that'.

Tsuna was shaking as he sat back, his knees sprawled awkwardly on either side of him. "O-okay," was all he could think to say.

He paused, hesitated, then stood to pick up the broken vase, the tatters of clothes, the shattered pieces of glass.

_The maids will do that, _Hibari wanted to say, but could not find the voice to expel the thought. It had been a violent fight...and seemingly over a trivial matter. But it was the first real spar the two had ever had, and Hibari, not being one to hold back against strong opponents, had not been able to restrain himself in the heat of the moment. Neither of their minds were in the fight, but both of their hearts were.

Tsuna worked slowly the way he did to buy himself some time. Silently he returned and knelt beside Hibari. With a rag that used to be his shirt, he gently mopped the blood from Hibari's forehead with a trembling hand.

The Vongola prince still looked like a child. It was the first thought that came to Hibari's mind, now that he was looking at him properly. Tsuna looked exactly the same as he always had. He was still all skin and bones, as thin as he had always been and not much taller, still with soft cheeks and bright, wide eyes. The brown spikes of hair might have once given the illusion of height, but now they were damp with sweat and blood, and the only thing Hibari could think was _how has this herbivore managed to defeat me?_

The princes eyes were still closed and he wondered if it was shame that kept him from looking into the face of Tsuna. Shame at his defeat. At his own weakness. But what surprised him more was that he thought it might have been respect_. _His mind flashed back to the first...no, it was the second meeting with him. An intolerably cute, flighty little thing, he had been. Indeed, like a baby bird, hiding behind his father's leg.

Hibari had loved him upon sight.

But then, when he had remembered that this was supposed to be his great rival, and a future king...Well. Suddenly the little prince, though a baby bird he was indeed, now became an ugly little duckling to Hibari's eyes. The disappointment and bitter irritation had buried those germinating feelings of affection deep into his hardened heart, and there they had remained, only to grow, with every day, every hour, every minute he spent at Tsuna's side. Watching him, listening to him, warming beside him...the seeds of love had blossomed, and his eyes opened like petals to the first rays of sunshine at dawn to see none other than a dazzling, pure white swan.

And indeed something strange stirred beneath his bruised breastplate as he lay there on his back and began to feel the pain of his injuries. He felt...content.

"It was self defense!" Tsuna spluttered suddenly. Hibari finally opened his eyes and saw the prince looking at him with a stern look on his face, yet, there were thin streaks of tears falling from his narrowed eyes, giving Hibari a profound feeling of utter scorn and irrevocable love at the same time. 'This sniveling little herbivore defeated me?!' roared his pride. 'Yet see how he honest he is, how deeply he feels', his heart countered, 'and defeat me he has...he is no weakling.'

"You want to marry her that much?" Hibari said finally. He looked Tsuna straight in the eyes, in order to get the truth.

Tsuna didn't say anything.

"You don't love her." Hibari affirmed.

"I love her as I love my own sister, but no more than that. How could I? We are nothing a like. It would be a terrible match."

"Then likeness constitutes as love, and marriage after that?"

"Yes...I mean...no. I mean...I don't know." He finished pathetically. "I've never been married before."

"Have you ever been in love before?"

"I-! That's...that's just... It doesn't matter." Tsuna said, looking suddenly crest fallen, and smaller than usual. Hibari didn't miss the reaction he had, and suddenly felt anger and hurt cut through him like a shard of glass. Yes, Tsuna's body language told him, he had been in love, and it was un-reacquainted. Hibari had never felt so jealous over someone in his entire life, let a lone with someone he had never met. He despised the feeling, envy was such an ugly emotion. He hated Tsuna for loving them enough to look like that when he thought about them. Hated them for existing. Would definitely bite them to death.

Tsuna didn't say anything for a while, wondering why Hibari was asking him such a thing, when he couldn't give him an answer. To be in love with another person, wanting to be with them forever, and be loved by them...had he such a person in his life? Even as he thought of that person, he knew it was impossible, and it troubled him. It was the most painful thing in his heart.

Having come very close to death so many times that year, thanks to Reborn, he had realized something. The face he saw so many times when he was a lone up a mountain, or close to death on a cliff face, or even when he was not a lone, and in the middle of a conversation, drifting off with thoughts of 'I wonder what that person is doing right now...', or 'I wonder what they would think/do/say about this situation?'

That year, he had thought so much about that person. To be safe with them, to be accepted by them...there was a fatal barrier in his mind, so that whenever he thought about that person like that he had to block it out, and the more he tried to ignore it the more it floated up into the front of his mind, until it was all he could ever think about, and all he could see, and all he wanted. It was painful to him. So much, that the bruises and the cuts on his body were nothing but a dull ache as Tsuna asked Hibari the question whose answer he feared with every nerve of his body. "Do you....love Kyoko?" He asked, not looking at him. Instantly he cursed himself for asking, felt regret, and stood up to flee.

But before he could run away without a reply, Hibari gave him his answer.

The reply was "No."

Tsuna felt his heart fly to his throat. No? But... Tsuna felt struck with confusion now. He felt certain that...

Hibari slowly turned his face to Tsuna. "I love another."

"Oh." I see, Tsuna thought, his heart squeezing ever so tightly in his chest, and feeling a shamed for the way it did so. But he could not control it. Worse, he could feel his control slipping away like water cupped in his hands. He turned away from Hibari, not able to look into his piercing eyes anymore, as they seemed to see right through him. "Th-then, I suppose you're pretty upset having to marry her?"

Hibari didn't say anything.

"She's a wonderful person, really. Smart, k-kind, v-very cute..."

Tsuna froze, as he felt Hibari reach out blindly and lightly touch his cheek. He looked at him in askance, but his look of confusion was met with such an intense expression on Hibari's blood streaked face, that suddenly he forgot how to swallow. Or to blink, or even to breathe.

Hibari's touch wiped away wetness from Tsuna's cheek that glistened clear on his finger tips. Tsuna hadn't even realized that he had been crying, and immediately reached up to scrub away the evidence, though the damage was done already. Hibari had seen him...Hibari hated to see him cry. Hated to see him show any weakness...

But then Hibari ran his fingers through Tsuna's chestnut hair. There is a surprising lack of knots, as it was soft and feathery light. Ever so slightly did the hair wrap around his fingertips. Hibari's touch drifted to the side of his face, traced his delicate jaw line, thumbed the corner of his slightly parted lips.

Tsuna was helplessly drawn in, utterly captivated by the electricity in Hibari's eyes. How could he have ever thought them cold or steely? Hibari's eyes were smoldering, and Tsuna could feel the heat rising within his body.

"I fell in love with you from the first time I saw you." Hibari said quietly, so close to Tsuna's ear that he felt his hot breath tingle the hairs on the back of his neck.

Tsuna shook with shock. "W-wha-"

"All those years ago, when you were the baby who laughed at me from the cot. And ever since, you've been in my thoughts...you've been in my heart. You've been part of who I am, my very existence."

Tsuna was stunned. "H-ha! Ha ha, that's funny, Hibari. Nice...joke..." But once again, Hibari's expression gave no room for doubt. And Tsuna, deep down, had wanted him to say that, wanted to believe it, so much. So _much_. But, at the same time...it terrified him.

"W-what are you talking about? Why do you have to be like this?" Tsuna couldn't understand it, but his heated brain suddenly changed it's direction, and he found himself getting angry. "Why did you attack me all of a sudden, for no good reason? Why do you have to be like that, always charging into things without warning? Saying things out of nowhere, attacking me out of nowhere...it's always a fight with you!" Tsuna felt the hot tears spilling before he could stop them, and he didn't have any idea where they were coming from or what was happening to him. He was feeling so over-sensitized, no many emotions were rolling in his chest. Hope, denial, embarrassment, dread, elation, frustration, guilt...Hibari was so beaten up. Even now, his eye was swelling a sore pink, making Tsuna feel sick in his stomach for doing that to such a face as Hibari's.

"And even now," he stumbled, "saying stuff like- like what you just said, to me? Stuff like – that you lo- that you- what the hell! It's Kyoko you like, right? That time when we swapped places, I was her, remember? You wanted to kiss her!"

Hibari shrugged as he sat up. "...she looks like you."

Tsunas heart sank to the pit of his stomach. He stood up slowly, started to back away from Hibari, towards the exit.

"So you like me, you said those words to me just now, because I look like her?" Tsuna was shaking his head slowly, as though he didn't want to hear his words. "I'm sorry, Hibari. You got the wrong twin!" And with that, Tsuna turned and ran out of the room.

Hibari shook his head in disbelief. He didn't mean it that way. "No, idiot." He lightly touched the cut on his forehead, wincing at the sharpness of the pain. "It's because _she_ looks like _you._"

* * *

A week passed, and still the excitement in the kingdom could be tasted in the air. Hibari was looking for the quietness of the library in order to take a nap, when he saw the King sitting at a corner table near the window, which was Hibari's spot. Slightly peeved, Hibari turned to leave, but unfortunately was spotted.

"Prince Hibari! What a pleasant surprise. Please, come and take a seat!"

Since he had been spotted, Hibari could not think of a good reason not to stay, and so had to oblige. He had been trying his best to avoid the king since his revelation concerning the mans son. He was in love with him, not the mans daughter like the king thought, and so felt like he was constantly lying to the king about his intentions. What's more, the king was the type who loved small talk, so Hibari could never find the right moment to admit his feelings for Tsuna to him. And to his chargin, the king was in the mood for small talk. Hibari hated small talk. When it came to small talk, he'd rather not talk at all.

He had been in a foul mood ever since he first arrived, and hadn't been able to speak to Tsuna since then either. He was being avoided, and he could only guess why. Why had he cried like that when they last spoke? Perhaps he was hated by him now? The damage was done, and it seemed irreparable.

"So, you felt the need to get away from all the bustling around the place too then, eh? Big day is coming up soon. My kingdom is getting ready for a mass progression over to the Namimori kingdom through the forest, in order to see the wedding of their Prince and Princess. No doubt your own kingdom is even busier than this! It was your mothers idea for you to wait down here while they work this summer, and to get married in late summer. Ahh, if only my children's mother were alive to see it, too. She would have been proud to see her daughter marry such a strong man as yourself, and for her son to marry one so lovely as your sister."

The mention of 'strong' in the kings flattery struck a nerve with Hibari, and immediately put him in something of a bad mood. Every little thing reminded him of Tsuna and the fight they had had. He had lost to him, he was no longer the strongest heir to the thrown. The man he loved was. However, another part of what the king had just said reminded him of something he had been meaning to ask for a while now.

"There's a painting of my family, before Haru was born, that my mother keeps in her bedroom." Hibari said, "and the work looks familiar..." He looked at the King for confirmation.

"Yes, that would be my wife's work." Iemitsu grinned. "Near the end, she was always painting by the river. It calmed her. She was...a very easily stressed type of person. Always worrying for no reason. Over the littlest thing." He laughed and scratched the back of his head in amusement, "a lot like Tsuna, actually."

Hibari nodded in agreement, and the King thought that very funny. "You noticed it too then, Prince Hibari? Haha, yes. She was a worrier, and perhaps a little overly protective, especially over her unborn children. Still, she was loved by the kingdom. There was no limit to her kindness."

"Then you were very much a like, King Iemitsu. Perhaps it was likeness that led to marriage."

"What's this, all of a sudden? Talk of likeness...ah, of course! You will be married soon! Don't worry about likeness, Hibari. In fact, I have learnt from experience, that the less you are a like, the stronger the bond will be. One will depend on the strengths of the other, to overcome their own weaknesses. As long as you have something in common, such as your love for each other, then the relationship will last longer than forever."

"I...see."

"It's true. That is why I feel your sister is perfect for my son. He's not as academically gifted as your sister is, for example. And I am aware that Tsuna is very kind, perhaps too soft, if I'm honest about it. I'm rather over protective of him, you see. Your sister is like you, however, and nothing can faze her once her heart is set on something, such as, let's say, the maintenance of peaceful times in a kingdom. Don't you agree?"

"...I see." Hibari muttered, not meaning to sound so bitter. "How formulaic. Was it always so pre-planned?"

"From the day my twins were born, your mother and I knew that the day would come for a union. But in terms of a match, I could see no better. You are of that age too, Hibari. Kyoko is much loved by both kingdoms, and your marriage to her will ensure a harmony between the two, even better than there already is."

"To remain in power, it is not necessary for a king to be loved; in fact, it is often better to for him to be feared." Hibari replied.

"Being hated, however, can cause a prince's downfall." Pointed out the King.

"Then it is here the question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse." Hibari inquired, sending a silent challenge to the Kings way of running a kingdom, which didn't seem to faze King Iemitsu at all.

"The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, I suppose that anyone compelled to choose between the two states of their kingdom will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. I myself am inclined to think that people's goodwill is always the best defense against both civil war and foreign aggression. Love, and the loyalty that comes with it, is pretty powerful magic."

"Love endures a bond by which men, being undisciplined, may break whenever it serves their advantage to do so; but fear is supported by the dread of pain," Hibari whipped out his tonfa in a flash, "which is ever present."

"Is that so?" Iemitsu grinned.

"It's human nature." Hibari confirmed with a nod. "They may be trustworthy in prosperous times, but they will quickly turn selfish, deceitful, and profit-driven in times of adversity."

"That sounds like more of an assumption towards society and character, rather than an observation in general, Prince Hibari." King Iemitsu said thoughtfully. "You sound just like your father."

That ended the discussion on a flat note for Hibari. He had no negative nor positive feelings towards his father. "I had a similar conversation with your son, a long time ago. He said the same things as you."

"Is that so?" chuckled the king. "Well, I guess that's to be expected. He is my cute little son, after all!"

Hibari sighed in resignation. That comment marked the end of their serious conversation for good, and he was right to think so.

"Speaking of sons...am I to take it that I am currently speaking to my future son-in-law?"

When Hibari didn't reply, Iemitsu sighed and clapped a heavy hand to his back. "So happy that you are speechless, ay? Don't worry, you will make a good husband for my daughter. And my son will make a splendid husband for your sister! I am certain of it."

Hibari hated being reminded of the fact, and immediately plunged into his bad mood. "Thank-you, your majesty." He bowed in respect, "the conversation was very insightful."

"Yes, I enjoy having these deep conversations with you, Hibari!" King Iemitsu said. "And please, call me Dad."


	13. Beginning Ends

**Beginning Ends**

* * *

Banners and flags of lilac, silver, orange and gold flared up in the great hall, which was teeming with important people from the two kingdoms, and also from far away lands. Dancers twirled and danced to the rise and fall of the ball room music, which could be heard even above the laughter and gossiping and merry talk fluttering between the royalties, lords and ladies standing along the walls, or else sitting amongst the dining tables. The palace was full, yet still more were trickling in from the crisp eveing air, fashionably late, down the majestic gold rimmed stairwell, down onto the dance floor.

They would first greet Queen Nana, whose kingdom it was they were visiting, followed by King Iemitsu, whose children were to be married tomorrow, and then Prince Hibari, the eldest, then Prince Tsuna, Princess Kyoko, and Princess Haru.

This lasted for two hours, with everyone enjoying themselves with dancing and drinking and laughter, before the last guests arrived, and finally the king and queen rose to dance together, and urged the Princes and Princess's to do the same.

Haru dragged Tsuna up first, grabbed his cold hands and began to fall into the flow of dance already in motion on the dance floor. She had been itching to dance for a while. Hibari offered Kyoko his hand, which she took gracefully, and followed close behind.

Colors and faces blurred as Hibari spun, and he tried to focus his attentions on Kyoko while he danced flawlessly.

"_Hibari, I'm sorry about what happened before. I shouldn't have shouted at you, and stormed out on you like that. It was wrong. I know that things have been strange these last few days, so lets just forget about what happened in the study, okay? No one has to know." _Tsuna had said.

Hibari had been so furious and so depressed all at once, that he didn't even have the strength to react at all. He just swallowed thickly and turned away, before giving a slight nod of his head.

And that was the last time they had spoken. They exchanged civilities, but it wasn't the same as before. Tsuna made sure never to be left a lone with Hibari, and Hibari in turn made sure only to talk to Tsuna when it was absolutely necessary, since Tsuna seemed to be something akin to disgusted with him.

Unfortunately Tsuna thought the same thing, what with the looks Hibari kept giving him. Neither could see past their own conflicting emotions at the others deep sadness over the whole mess.

And just like this, with bad feeling and tension stretched to breaking point, the months had rolled on into the day before The Day, the wedding day. And Hibari couldn't feel anything but duty about the whole thing.

To curb the overwhelming impulse tugging on his heart, he tried to think of reasons to not love Tsuna, before it was too late.

His nose was a little high in his face, like a sprite.

His hair was a dull chestnut brown, and was always messy. He was too trusting...like an idiot. He moaned a lot and whined over the littlest thing. His skin was not as pale as Hibari, because he had a healthy glow. He was too laid back about somethings and tightly wound up about others, and somewhat easily manipulated. Easily afraid, jumpy even around Hibari, who still got a sort of sick thrill from the startled look in his eyes only Hibari seemed to produce.

Hibari may as well have tried to stop his heart from beating, or his brain from thinking, for all the difference it made. If anything, his introspections made his heart's wings beat louder, his thoughts run faster, his love run deeper.

He had thought that for his newfound heated intolerance for Tsuna to change into something opposite was unthinkable. Now he realized that they were two sides of the same coin. He loved every single one of the things he had hated in the past now. It was intolerable, yet a necessary condition. Tsuna was perfect.

When he walked he was still as clumsy as a duck on land, even now prone to trips and falls, but he always got back up again. He danced reasonably well, though.

Hibari was ever graceful in his movements, and held Kyoko in position like that of a true gentleman. Anyone looking would think that they were truly in love.

For as they danced, he focused only on Kyoko's face. She was smiling kindly and looked very beautiful. Her hair was tied up into a neat bun on her head, with a small tiara for decoration. She wore only a little make-up on her eyes. Unlike her brother, and despite being twins, as she had gotten older her eyes were not as big as Tsuna's. And what was more, they were a lighter shade of hazel, rather than the warm brown of her brother. Her hair was a lot lighter and thinner, whereas Tsuna's hair was oddly uncontrollable, undisciplined, feathery. And their lips...were different, he noticed. His were paler, fuller, more appealing, more inviting...

Hibari had let go of her while the music continued to fill the hall. He crossed the hall in quick strides through the bodies dancing around him, and nudged his sister out of the way, and out of Tsuna's hands.

"H-Hibari!" Tsuna gasped, fearful that Hibari was about to kill him for dancing with his sister or something. "I was just-" and he was swiftly silenced with a kiss.

Rather than the act itself, what shocked Tsuna most was the heat. A firm press of feverish lips against his own, and for that moment, that was all there was in the world. A world of sensation rather than of thought, which were utterly shattered like a fallen tower of glass. Tsuna felt a hand brushing against his cheek, another placed on his waist possessively. Tsuna melted into it. Then suddenly his lips were on air, and he felt the deep voice against him sigh "wrong twin." Hibari didn't pull away, and looked straight into Tsuna's wide eyes with his sexy blue ones.

Silence smothered the hall.

The chatter, the music, the dancing all came to an shuddering halt at the scene. For a long time, all Tsuna could do was look up into the face of the other prince, stunned. Hibari kissed him softly again on the corner of his mouth, as though to prove that the first kiss had not been a dream or an accident. As if it _could_ have been an accident.

This gave another jolt through Tsuna's system, and, suddenly deeply conscious to the quiet pressing around them, he stepped away from Hibari. The tinkling sound of a glass breaking broke the spell everyone was under. Hibari saw his face blush, his mouth open as if to say something...then Tsuna's face was pulled down in a frown, he shook his head and turned on his heel, ran out of the hall, his light steps echoing in the noiseless room.

Haru moved to stand beside her brother and watched the doors that Tsuna had disappeared through swing to a stand still.

"I wonder if a kingdom can have two kings?" Whispered Queen Nana.

* * *

* * *

"I need to go back home, Dad!" Tsuna said forcefully, suppressing the need to cry with shame and avoiding looking directly at his father. "I'm going home!"

"You're running away?"

"I don't care! I'm going."

King Iemitsu watched sadly as his son marched past him in his best suit with cloak in hand. He watched as Princess Haru skidded into the hall, and ran after him. He felt relieved...perhaps the young ones can sort itbetween themselves without his help.

* * *

* * *

Tsuna knew he was acting irrational, knew he was being a spoilt brat, but he couldn't stay.

He was the one avoiding Hibari from shy-ness. He was confused. More than that, he was embarrassed to be kissed in front of so many. And worse still, he had left Hibari standing there! A small, evil part of Tsuna thought that it served him right, but mostly he despaired. Even if Hibari had loved him then, he definitely hated him now.

But maybe he hated him in the first place, after all, there had been bad feeling between them ever since their fight...perhaps, Tsuna thought with growing horror, the kiss had been some sort of strange revenge on Hibari's part? Embarrass him ultimately, whereas he wasn't the type to be embarrassed at all?

No – Tsuna rejected the theory as soon as he thought it. The kiss...was real. He knew that. He... could feel it.

But Hibari should have gone to Kyoko! He loved Kyoko, he knew he did, he had seen them as they had danced, he could not help but watch at the beginning. Hibari had not taken his eyes off her even once...

"_Wrong twin,"_

Tsuna stopped in his tracks near the exit as he remembered Hibari's words.

....Wrong...twin?

* * *

* * *

Haru caught up with Tsuna at the gates, just as he was getting ready to leave. In her mind she was ready to force a good bye on him. He saw her coming, however, and attempted to make a run for it, but Haru was quick to react, and bowled into him before he got very far, knocking him to the ground. "Get off me, Haru!" He said, forcibly rolling over to force her off him. But she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into a fierce hug before he could get up fully. Her strength dragged him down on top of her, her grip around his neck so tight that it was suffocating him.

"Haru, your dress..the floor!"

"You have my blessing." Haru said, making Tsuna stop his struggle and blush furiously.

"Huh?"

"Don't look so stupid. I said, you have my blessing. Take good care of my scary older brother, okay? Make him a very happy man."

"W-what? What are you saying?!"

"You've always been like a little brother to me, Tsuna. Although we're the same age, I could never, ever see you as a husband. I love you, just...not enough to do this and that with you."

"This and that?"

"I don't think you have it in you to take me to heaven," Haru said, "maybe Hibari sees something in you that I don't?"

"Haru! Please!"

"You're more girl than boy. Must come from having such a pretty girl twin as Kyoko."

"Haru, let me go! My carriage is waiting."

"Calm down, Tsuna. I was just teasing you!" Haru giggled without loosing her vice like grip.

"Wait for him." Haru said, "He's been looking for you. Let him know you love him too. I know for a fact that you do – you've never looked at me the way you look at him before." Tsuna stopped in his struggle for freedom at that. She let go of him even more, so that her hands were linked at his neck as he leaned over her. Seeing her now, Tsuna thought she had never looked so pretty as when she said that. Haru pulled him closer and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek, making him blush. "I love you, Tsuna. As a brother of course. No ones mad at you, so don't run away like this. Wait for him."

"Haru..." Tsuna began. "I-"

"So you do like her after all?" Said a voice. Tsuna quickly realized his position on top of Haru, and immediately sprang up to face Hibari, who was standing at the door.

"Hibari!"

But he was gone.

"What are you waiting for?" Haru cried, nudging Tsuna in the back. "Go after him!"

But Tsuna only shook with indecision. Maybe this was for the best, he thought. Then he spun around and went in the opposite direction, out of the gates.

"You idiots!" Haru shouted, seemingly at the walls, since both Tsuna and Hibari were no longer in sight.

* * *

* * *

Haru managed to convince Hibari that there was nothing going on, and explained that she was simply giving him her blessing before he left, possibly for good! 'It was on the cheek! The cheek, you moron!' She had said, clenched fists punching her brother ineffectively on the arm. Hearing this, Hibari realized that he had been jumping to conclusions. But still the fact remained...he had been rejected. Thoroughly rejected by Tsuna. If running away from him wasn't enough of a clue, the fact that Tsuna hadn't cared enough to correct Hibari's assumption had drummed it into him. It was simple...Tsuna didn't see him as more than a friend.

Rejected, Hibari retreated back into the castle and proceeded to shut himself up in his study.

* * *

* * *

Tsuna thought that Hibari must truly hate him. Not only did he run away from his feelings without a real reply, but to Hibari, he ran into the arms of his sister! 'He definitely hates me, with all his heart', was what Tsuna thought.

It was raining, so Tsuna waited in the carriage for his family to join him. He was sorely tempted to ask the driver to drive on home without them, but stopped himself twice. That would look even more pathetic, and he'd still have to face them at some point. The longer he left it, the worse it would get.

As he thought this, his first family member climbed into the carriage.

"I'm sorry, Kyoko!" Tsuna cried, before she'd even taken her seat."I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to...he came from no where! I didn't...I wouldn't! I mean, he's a-and I'm a...he's a-!"

"Tsuna, stop it! Calm down, you'll – oh, don't cry, Tsuna. Don't cry!"

"Do you hate me now?" He said weakly. He couldn't bare to even look at her in the face. How could he? He was so embarrassed that she had to see what she saw.

Kyoko took Tsuna's hand into her own the way they had always done as children, and hadn't for a long time. It rested between them as she kissed his pale cheek. "I love you, Tsuna," she said quietly, tilting his head to look at her. His eyes were shiny with tears and his lips were pulled down in a miserable pink upside-down 'U'. Kyoko tried not to laugh at his dramatics. "I love you, and no matter what you do I always will, okay? Even if you liked boys. Even if you kissed my fiance..." She smiled widely as she saw the blush spreading on Tsuna's face at the memory. He opened his mouth to object, and she put a finger to his lips to stop him. "We're family, and nothing will ever change that."

She smiled and wiped away the thin line of tears on either side of his face with her handkerchief. He sniffed and tried to smile for her. He managed a small smile that was very genuine, but it was lost the moment it appeared. "Thank-you, Kyoko." He said quietly, and she kissed his cheek again and lay her head to rest on his shoulder, still holding his slender hand between them.

And this was how the king found them together. It warmed the kings heart to see his children so close together again, and felt a little jealous to be left out. He climbed in to sit opposite them, hoping that his presence wouldn't ruin the mood.

Tsuna dared not look at his father. He dared not even speak to him, for fear of what he must think of him right now. The last meeting had ended with him screaming at the King after all.

And for a long time, nothing was said. The king nodded to the driver and the carriage started moving with a jolt. For the first time he only briefly waved out the window to the queen, who returned the gesture with a sad, slow wave of good-bye in return.

The silence that stretched between them was killing Tsuna. It had only been five minutes, but he was sweating in anxiety. He felt Kyoko's hand gently squeeze his own, as though she knew what he was thinking, which she probably did. At that, he bit his lip and opened his mouth to apologize.

"Father I-"

"Your mother and I had never met before our wedding day." said the King. Tsuna stared at his father and felt Kyoko stiffen in surprise. Where had _that_ come from?

"Don't get me wrong, we loved each other in our own way. She was very beautiful, and very kind – so we became friends. But you have to understand, it wasn't romantic love. Your mother was a very serious person, she stressed about the smallest thing. Our personalities, simply didn't connect like we'd hoped.

"When you two were born...Well, she was a small women, just like you two. She wasn't built for such things. I think she knew that, though. She wished that you had my strength, which you did. Her brains, which you did. But most of all, from the moment she knew about you, she wished that you'd be happy. Be with the ones you loved. And she died with that in her heart...

"Be it a village girl, a Jester, a princess or a prince – Tsuna, her son is free to love whomever he chooses."

"...Dad." Tsuna's voice broke in a soft whine, his tears like dust caught in his throat. Kyoko handed him a tissue, and he did his best to blink his tears away. Kyoko's hand was so warm in his, and his father had never...he'd never said anything like that before. "Dad, I...." he chocked out, and finally gave a sniff and took a deep shaky breath that calmed him down completely. "Thanks, Dad." he smiled. The King smiled back.

"No problem, son. The same goes for you too, Kyoko. You wanna date Princess Haru, that's fine with me!" He gave her the thumbs up.

"Oh Dad, don't be such a pervert!" Kyoko chastened, and Tsuna and the king merely laughed.

The heavy atmosphere was lifted, and the King proceeded to ask embarrassing questions for Tsuna, questions like "So how was it? Is Prince Hibari a good kisser?" and "Did you know all along, or was that your first?" or "And to think, I've been cramping the atmosphere in those bathing sessions all these years. How careless of me!" Until Tsuna turned so red and heated that he thought he would faint, and the King took pity on him and the three began on normal conversation.

Suddenly the horses came to an abrupt halt, the kings laughter dying in this throat.

His teenage children sat up in uncertainty at the kings sudden unease. He was looking outside through the curtained carriage window, the happy mood gone from his face.

"Stay inside, you two." Said the king, and stepped out of the carriage. Tsuna and Kyoko didn't know what was going on, so they peeped out of the window. They were shocked by how misty it was all of a sudden. Thick fog clouded the ground where it had been clear before. All the two in the carriage could make out was a shadowed figure further up the path. Tsuna could not make out the face, but he could make out the pineapple shaped outline of his head...

And suddenly that long forgotten memory from years and years ago stirred and uncoiled itself like an awakening snake coiled dormant in his mind.

_He could just about see the river, a white rippling line in the reflected moonlight surrounded by the twisted silhouettes bushes and trees. _

_In the darkness, the boy was leisurely walking parallel to the carriage as though going for a midnight stroll through the woods, not noticing the carriage on the road. He was very graceful as he walked, as though there were no trees at all, and did not stumble even once. He would be there one moment, gone the next, like a river spirit._

_He thought about waking his sister or his dad twice during the journey, but twice he couldn't pull his eyes away from the stranger. The stranger was very beautiful and dangerous looking, he thought, with his dark hair and white skin and and half-smile on his face. Wait – half-smile? Had that been there before? _

_Suddenly the stranger looked directly at him, his spike topped hair, his mis-matched eyes. He smiled slowly, waved a little and bowed at Tsuna through a foliage of leafless trees. And then he was gone._

That man is from that time before by the river, Tsuna realized. The strange boy in the darkness!

Instinct made Tsuna nervous and afraid, and he pulled on his fathers clothes urgently. "Get in!" He whispered, and without thinking he added, "he's dangerous!"

"What do you mean?" Kyoko said quietly, startled by Tsuna's distress, but before Tsuna could explain a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere echoed through the clearing.

"Kufufufu. Pleased to meet you, your highness. I have come for my prize," Mukuro Rokudo cocked his head to the one side. "This won't take long." He beamed, and Tsuna world came crashing down into darkness.

* * *

* * *

The thunder rumbled and the lightening flashed. The autumn rain splattered on the windows. "It's like the sky is crying," Haru moaned, hugged by Bianchi.

Some of those closest to Hibari and Tsuna of the Namimori kingdom had retreated into the games room, as moral support, not wanting to leave their prince alone and depressed, much to Hibari's frustration. However, he couldn't find it in him to angry at present.

Despite the heavy atmosphere, though, Dino could not restrain himself. "Pfft. A gay prince. Don't you think that's funny?" He ignored the dirty looks being thrown his way. "I mean, who'd have thought it? Though I was a little suspicious with how you were never interested in the girls I pointed out to you over the years..." Hibari brought out his tonfa then and aimed it as his head, but Dino was already prepared and held up a chair, which was smashed to pieces from his hands. "Hey! A healthy 18-year-old should _not_ be afraid to lose their virginity to a woman! 'Undiscplined' you called it! HA! Now we know the _truth_!"

"What were you thinking, kissing Tsuna in front of everyone like that, for goodness?" cried Fuuta, nervous about the whole thing. "I thought you _hated_ him."

"I never said I hated him." Hibari replied quietly.

"Regardless of whether you ever hated him, you _must_ love him to be able to kiss him like that. I thought I was just seeing things at first..." Dino grinned.

"And from the look on his face, I'm pretty sure Tsuna was as surprised as the rest of us." Fuuta added.

Dino chuckled again. "No wonder he ran away though, Hibari. He wasn't expected to get kissed by a guy tonight, let alone you! And he was always shy to begin with!"

"'Surprised' is an understatement. Try 'horrified'!" Shamal said as he entered the room, shutting the door behind him. "I had to watch that kiss, you moron. Why couldn't it have been the two lovely princess's that kissed in front of the whole-." Hibari threw a vase at him lightening fast before he even managed to finish his sentence, for saying such perverted things about his sister. He dodged, but Haru punched him on the head for it. "What was that for?" He whined.

"Don't say such tasteless things!" she cried.

"Who's the tasteless one here? Me? Or the guy who had his face stuck to another guy a few hours ago?"

"It was quite undisciplined behavior." Dino said with laughter in his eyes. "Quite shameful."

"Love is never shameful." Bianchi said sagely.

"Well it doesn't matter now anyways. I doubt he will ever want to speak to me again." Hibari said sadly. Dino took pity on him.

"You know, I bet he was just surprised. That guy is easily startled, y'know? Just give him some time. I'm sure he'll come round."

"You say that as though this situation is normal."

"Is it not normal?"

"A prince kissing another prince in front of his own fiance IS normal?"

Everyone could see that he was getting quite depressed. Hibari put his face in his arms resting on the table, and nothing more was said. "I'm so foolish." He mumbled into his arms.

At that moment the doors to the study crashed open. A servant boy stumbled into the room, panting heavily and startling everyone out of their reverie. "What the-?"

"One of King Iemitsus guards has returned, Prince Hibari!" The servant gasped. "The Queen has called for the Doctor! You must come at once!"

"Shamal?" Hibari stood, eyes narrowed. Why would one of the Kings guards return, in need of a doctor so urgently? Was something wrong with the king?

He fled through the castle and reached the front doors first, and sure enough, there was one of the Kings guards. There was a clap of thunder, and the lightening flashed on the dark stain that was spreading onto the royal carpet. At first he thought it was rain water, until he knelt beside the guard. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was blood that seeped into the royal carpet.

"We – we've been attacked..." chocked the man. "Our-our king..."

Hibaris eyes widened in horror, and without waiting for another word he was gone, before Dino and the rest had even caught up with him. Without thinking he ran to the stables at top speed, though Dino was right behind him. "Hibari, wait!"

But by the time Dino reached the stable door, Hibari had burst through them on a black horse, and rode down the path into the forest. "HIBARI!" Dino called, but Hibari was already being consumed by the darkness. Dino kicked the swinging stable door in frustration."Jesus, that guy never listens to a single word I say!" He said, and ran into the stable to fetch his own horse. It could be dangerous...Hibari was strong, but so was King Iemitsu. If something had happened to the King...!

He almost trampled a soaking wet Fuuta as he barged out of the stables on his gray horse, "Fuuta! Are you alright?"

"Yes, Lord Dino. I am fine!"

"Send some of the guards into the forest after me, and send Shamal among them as soon as you can!"

"Yes, Sir!" Fuuta bowed, currently under formalities as he ran back into the castle. "Please return yourself and his majesty safely, sir!" He called after Dino, who had set off as soon as he had issued his command, not waiting for a reply. Fuuta shivered in the cold wetness, and jumped at the lightening and thunder clap that erupted above him. He then set about fulfilling Dino's commands. _I hope the Royal Sawada family is alright!_

* * *

* * *

_Faster, faster, faster! _

How long since they had been attacked? What had happened? A bandit? How badly would Tsuna be hurt? Hibari whipped down the muddy path like a shadow darting through the forest. The rain hit him so cold and hard it has like hail, such was his speed, despite the slippery leaves on the road. The weather had never been so bad as this so early in autumn. Could this be a bad omen what was to come? A warning from the gods?

A flash of lightening illuminated the carriage in front of him, and he reared the horse and skidded to a halt, almost making the horse lose balance. "No..." Hibari gasped upon seeing the wreckage. He dug his heels into the horse and flattened himself to its back to get to it faster, and jumped off as he approached, landing with a splash in the oozing mud.

The carriage's corpse was on it's side, it's plush innards sprawled in the mud. The doors had been ripped off and thrown away to smash into splinters on the trees, a wheel was missing, and so were the horses. Two guards lay dead in the mud, the lightening illuminating the blood mixed into the ground around them, their faces white, their eyes wide and empty, frozen in shock.

His heart was thumping faster than before, jerking against his ribcage and disrupting the rhythm of his breathing. Incapacitated with fear, he was unable to think in coherent words.

Hibari rushed to the carriage door after a glance, his head spinning. This can't...it's not...what? Is this...no! With growing panic he scoured the inside of the empty carriage. "Tsuna?" he said in a low voice, not trusting his voice to go any louder. His heart was beating wildly against his rib cage, yet his blood turned cold with fear. "Tsuna!" he cried more urgently, "King Iemitsu? Princess Kyo-"

"P-Prince Hi-hib-"

Stunned, Hibari spun round and spotted the king with his head propped up against a thick tree log in the mud. The princess was lying with her arm draped over the kings chest, who was dripping wet and shivering in the down pour. Hibari splashed over to them with difficulty, the mud gripping onto his his boots into the ground with every step, and fell to his knees in front of them.

"King Iemitsu!" He gasped, pulling off his cloak to drape over them. "King Iemitsu, what-?"

"They...took...him." He said weakly, panting from the effort. Hibari's eyes widened at the implications of the words.

"T-took him? Where? Who took him?"

"Two – men with power. One, women...one....animal...ack!" The King cringed in pain as Hibari tried to lift his hand away from his chest to see the damage underneath. Hibari paled at what he saw.

He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, slowed down his own breathing and his thoughts to steady himself. When the prince next spoke, his voice was controlled and firm, his narrowed and focused. "King Iemitsu, where is Tsuna?"

"They – are not what they seem." The king gasped desperately, feeling as though he was losing himself somehow. He was losing consciousness. He could feel his thoughts losing their grip on reality. He needed to say what was most important...he didn't know where Tsuna was...he didn't know..."H-hey, Hi...Hibari?"

"Yes, King Iemitsu?"

"Look...after your mother...and the others...for me." He said, in his mind seeing Nana jumping into the river after him, in her summer dress, blushing at his words, laughing after her children, his children...Kyoko...Haru...Hibari...Tsuna...his beautiful family. "T-tell her....t-tell her that..."

"King Iemitsu, please tell me where Tsuna is!"

"I love her..." gasped the king, and felt a heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders with the words, making him feel light headed and content. She was a good women, and she was strong, but he was sorry he would not get to be with her for a little longer, or to see his children marry. Although, he chuckled to himself, "I guess that wasn't going to happen the way we planned." He murmured weakly to himself.

"...Your majesty?"

The king took a shuddering breath."You will make....a great King...someday...Prince...Prince... Hi...ba...ri..."

He sighed, his whole chest heaved with his words, and shuddered into stillness.

The rain was deafening.

"K-king Iemitsu?" Hibari whispered, though he knew it was too late.

He bowed his head and gritted his teeth from the painful twist in his chest. He was gone.

And Tsuna was gone.

He rose to his feet, head bowed, distraught. "TSUNA!" Cried Hibari, his deep voice being swallowed up by the darkness. "TSUNA!" He called, his fists shaking at his sides. "Tsuna..." he chocked with a dry sob, his throat fretted by the dust of grief. The icy autumn rain ran down his face like a flood of tears. They numbed his cheeks and blurred his surroundings into a mesh of dark greens and deep shadows and the cruel red of the cloak covering the body of royalty.

He fell back onto his knees in front of them. Kyoko was still breathing, but she was unconscious. The King's hand was limp and ice cold in his grasp. The rain fell on the two neighboring kingdoms as though the sky was crying.

The sky was crying.


	14. Kiss the Rain

**Kiss the Rain**

**

* * *

  
**

Dusk. Deep in the forest long shadows stretched from the castle and engulfed most of the lake, illuminated like liquid fire by the settling sun.

"Why so shy, little prince? You know that I would never hurt you." Cooed the dark wizard, Mukuro. He looked nothing like a wizard. He could easily be mistaken for a prince, what with the elegant clothes he wore, his white skin that looked like he had never worked a day in his life, the soothing tenor of his voice.

It was the eyes that gave him away – one a deep ocean blue and the other as red as blood. Right now, they were focused only on Tsuna.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked lightly, seeing him ignore his food. "I could give you a much more satisfying meal, you know. You only have to ask." He grinned, "wouldn't you like that?"

But Tsuna only continued to ignore him, his back turned to the man and his words. He was afraid that if he looked at him, or listened to him too carefully, the wizard would immediately possess him with his magic. Tsuna heard a heavy sigh behind him and a whimper, almost like a pout.

"You are so cruel, Prince Tsunayoshi. I've been so nice to you! Do you really hate me that much?"

"Master Mukuro," said the quiet young women standing beside him in a soft voice. She wore a purple hooded cloak and carried a basket of bread. She continued to throw crumbs from the basket into the lake for the swans to eat. They squabbled quietly in the water, though one of them did not even look at the offering, it's back firmly to the shore. "Master Mukuro...perhaps he is just tired?" offered the girl.

"Hm? Tired? Do you think so, Chrome?" Mukuro said, then to himself, "but he has been this way for three days now. Ever since we brought him here..." Maybe the prince was tired? Swimming around all day on the lake must be tiring, then. "Is that it, my little prince? Are you tired?"

No response.

"If you would agree to my request, I promise that you shall have a nice warm bed tonight, and pleasant dreams to go with it." Mukuro couldn't help but smile at what he was thinking, but Tsuna did not react to the offer. "And, of course..." Mukuro added slyly, "I will break the spell."

No response.

"Would you prefer to remain in that form forever?"

Only silence greeted him.

Mukuro's eyes narrowed, feeling impatient. Then he decided to try a different approach. "You know, during the winter you will have no choice but to join me in my castle. Your beautiful feathers will not be able to protect you from the ice and snow. Before that happens, won't you let me possess you, if only for one night? I promise, I will make you love me by then."

Nothing.

Mukuro felt like he wanted to cry. "I give you this lake all to yourself. I visit you every evening. You are the most beautiful creature in this forest, come night or day. And by day, you can fly. Isn't that wonderful?"

Tsuna only flapped his wings in response, silently indicating that he wasn't going to talk to him. Not tonight. Mukuro wondered if Tsuna knew about the death of the king yet, and whether his funeral yesterday was the reason for his stubbornness.

With this in mind, he realized he was not going to get any conversation with him tonight. Instead he watched him for a long time, saying nothing, only waiting.

Tsuna began to think that his plan wasn't working. Was Mukuro going to wait all night for him to speak? Tsuna was trying to ignore the man to prove his hatred for him. The man _wanted_ him to speak, so he would do exactly the opposite. Tsuna thought that maybe this way, Mukuro would get tired of him and break the spell.

The sun finally sank below the pillow of trees while Mukuro sat there. Night was soon approaching.

_Any minute now,_ Tsuna thought helplessly.

_My favorite bit of the spell.._.Mukuro smiled in satisfaction to himself.

When inky blue darkness fell, the swan on the lake and the man on the shore looked up to the bright orb on the wispy clouds, shining it's whitest. The cloud glided slowly by, revealing the half moon. And as the moonlight hit the surface of the lake, an amazing thing happened.

The moonlight seemed to blossom from below the surface of the lake directly beneath the swan. The other swans scattered in alarm as the water rippled around him, lapping up at his feathers and leaping high up from the waters surface as though it were alive. Higher and higher, the water surrounded the swan like a curtain made of white crystal, glistening and churning, suspended on the surface of the lake in the moonlight. As it reached a certain height, it fell lifelessly back into the water, and there in place of the swan stood a boy.

Having seen what he had been waiting to see, Mukuro got up to his feet and dusted himself off. He decided to have one more try. "You look beautiful as ever this evening, Tsunayoshi. Would you care to join me in my castle?"

Tsuna only crossed his arms no, and wadded away from Mukuro towards the other side of the lake.

Mukuro let him, but watched him for a little longer as he sat on the rocks among the reeds on the other side, arms cradled around himself and head against his knees. He was wearing the clothes he had worn since his arrival, pure white shirt and black fitted trousers, and nothing more.

"Maybe I should decrease the temperature outside. Would ice persuade him into my bedroom?"

"More than likely, sir, the boy would freeze to death."

"Really? He's that stupid?" Mukuro muttered, but didn't cast a spell. He sighed and left back for his castle for a nap, and didn't dwell on his new catch. Tsuna would fall in love with him eventually – they all did. One after another, if he made a little effort, whether it was his looks his charm, his generosity or his power...Tsuna, too, would fall for him. And then he'd eat his heart out.

1827182718271827

During the day Tsuna slept as a swan, as he had nothing better to do. It had taken him a while to adjust to being a bird – to bob along on the water the way he did, he felt for sure he was about to sink all the time. He could liken it to being in a one man boat in his own body. Head able to reach places it had never been able to before. It was an overall surreal and horribly unnerving experience.

He always kept to the very sides of the lake, despite the fact that Mukuro was often there trying to talk to him near the cluster of rocks near the castle. Tsuna often had no choice but to wait to be changed in that exact spot, in front of Mukuro's piercing gaze. Anywhere else and the water was too deep for Tsuna to stand in, so that when he changed from swan to boy he would sink like a rock and get completely soaked, and would be shivering all night long. Mukuro knew this, and that was why he sat in that same spot every other night, waiting for him. On the first night here Tsuna had stayed away from him by keeping to the middle of the lake, and had almost drowned as a result. Mukuro, to Tsuna's distress, had laughingly saved him. Had taken the opportunity to press his lips to his lips, despite his struggling, claiming it was 'mouth to mouth', and Tsuna had been slapped with the memory of Hibari doing the same thing a long time ago, and had blushed and spluttered and frantically rolled away. Mukuro, unfortunately, had taken the blush as a good sign. He'd been forward with him ever since.

Tsuna never ventured to the center of the lake for another reason aside from it's depth. There was a creepy statue of a large frog, probably about as tall as up to his waist and made of a light grey stone that lit up silver in the moonlight. It was very well made, but very, very creepy, because during the day it was never there. It simply – disappeared while Tsuna slept.

Freaked, Tsuna chose to pretend that the statue was never there at all, and didn't go near it.

Effectively, Tsuna was trapped. By night or day he was too terrified to venture into the forest with it's wolves and bears and god knew what else, and he was a pathetic excuse for a swan that couldn't fly. But then even if he could, he wouldn't know how to get back home anyway. He had no idea where he was, recognized nothing of this part of the forest. Surely Mukuro's castle, looming above the trees, could be seen from miles around. Yet he was absolutely certain of having never laid eyes on it. He must be a long, long way from either kingdoms, or the path that linked them.

He hoped that his father and sister were okay. He didn't remember anything from the kidnapping, only the sight of Mukuro changed into a huge white owl, swooping over him, and then nothing. Next thing he knew, he was being nudged awake by another swan while he slept amongst the reeds. Having been a frog before in his life, he'd grasped what had happened to him pretty fast, but the shock of it almost drowned him, even in his swan form.

Tsuna wondered whether his family were looking for him. Whether Hibari was -

Depressed, Tsuna spent the first few days adjusting and wallowing in self pity. It was nearly a week before he finally got the courage to explore around further than the lake as a swan, despite how pathetically vulnerable he felt. What would Hibari do in this situation? He wouldn't be cowering on the lake, that was for sure. Hibari would probably just go and bite Mukuro to death. Or...peck him to death. And then fly right out of here as though nothing had happened, just like he always did at the end of a fight.

Even at the end of their own fight, their first real exchange of equal blows in which Tsuna – and here he always shuddered with a mixture of horror and awe – had won – Hibari hadn't been the one who stayed in bed afterwards. Hibari was up and about, not affected in the slightest. It was probably the most scariest thing about Hibari of all. It was like he was indestructible, no doubt in Tsuna's mind stronger than ever before.

Yet even as he thought about what Hibari would do, Tsuna didn't have to heart to kill Mukuro himself. After all, Mukuro was quite harmless. Weird, but he'd never hurt him. He was more like a child than anything else, his selfishness and mood swings, and he always wanted to play...

He'd wondered at some point whether the man was just lonely. Is that why he kidnapped Tsuna and turned him into a swan? If so, then the swan part was unnecessary and cruel. Tsuna had every right to be angry with him, and he would remain that way until Mukuro had the decency to turn him back, and stop playing games with him.

Tsuna took courage from his memory of Hibari, and decided to be brave and explore. If there was a way out of here, he wasn't going to find it just moping around the lake all day. That was probably what Mukuro wanted.

He could fly as a chicken flew, more like an elongated jump with a frantic flapping of wings than the graceful floating of flight. Right now he folded them comfortably at his sides, tensed for immediate action. His webbed feet were made to tread the muddy bank of the lake or to tread on water, but not on land. The soles had thick skin, so the ground didn't hurt him, but he was clumsy, and the progress was slow. He decided just to circle first, to get his bearings.

The trees were thick with age and clustered close together, so the darkness was dense. He made sure he could always see the lake through the trees. Eventually he came across a path that made him stop in horror to stare.

It was ravaged, torn apart as though a monster had ripped down this path in a blind rage. _A monster in the lake! _Tsuna thought with horror, stumbling back. No, more like a dragon...burnt splinters of trees littered the sides of the path, scorched sooty black and deformed from having their limbs burnt off.

The sun shone here where it couldn't reach anywhere else through the trees, and the cool autumn air make the damage look less sinister than the shadows of the trees. Tsuna took some comfort from this, and cautiously, after some hesitation, began to follow the unstable mud path through the forest. It wasn't long till he saw a grey figure in the distance, and he immediately threw himself off the path and out of sight in a mad panic.

He listened warily from his hiding pace, but didn't hear any approaching footsteps. He dared a glance, and sure enough, the strange figure hadn't moved.

After another few minutes to make sure, Tsuna hesitantly waddled back onto the ravaged path. Upon approaching the distant figure slowly and with caution, he realized that it was, in fact, just a statue.

A statue of a huge turtle, bigger than him. He passed it by curiously, examining the quality of it. It's shape was perfect, very realistic. He wandered who had left such an amazing statue in the middle of the devastated path, and no sooner had he thought this that he noticed the smoothness of the path behind it. It went far, very far!

_I see! Someone is in the middle of building a path to the lake_, Tsuna thought. And they were using the turtle's heavy weight to do it, by pushing it maybe.

As he walked down the path that stretched far into the distance, he wandered why Mukuro would do such a thing. But then he realized how silly that was – Mukuro needn't push a turtle to form a path, not when he could do magic! Who, then? Did they know where this path lead to? Did Mukuro know who was doing it?

He speculated this as he walked. The sun had risen to past high noon and had began it's decent by the time Tsuna reached the end of the path, and had to rest on his aching feet. It stopped randomly in the middle of nowhere, just surrounded by the same trees he'd walked past.

A waste of time, Tsuna thought irritably. And attempted to fly back in runs and jumps, but soon gave up when he became too tired and thirsty and dry. He wondered if he could make it back to the lake in time, he was so sore...but then he finally saw the grey figure in the distance. He rejoiced that he was almost at the lake!

Re-energized, Tsuna flap-ran foward, and almost tripped over himself when he realized that this time there really was a figure in front of him, and pushing the statue.

_So I was right, _Tsuna thought, and took silent, nervous steps towards the man. For it was a man, pushing the statue before him. Tsuna was shocked when he got close enough to see that the man was naked, and quickly looked away. He peeked over his wings so that he could only see his top half...

His pale, red-sore back was tensed with the strain of pushing the turtle, which barely shifted forward an inch with each mighty push. Tsuna could only imagine the sheer effort he was putting in, the impossible dead weight of the statue he was pushing. But what on earth was he doing?

The man – no, boy – must be around Tsunas age - stopped and wiped his glistening brow. He heaved a heavy sigh, turned around, and froze.

Tsuna, without lowering his one wing from his face, raised the other wing in greeting. "Hel-"

"AAHHHhh!" The boy screamed, toppling back over the turtle and scrambling back up again to stumble and hide behind a tree. Tsuna jumped a foot in the air, startled.

"What the fuck are you doing here, you fucking pervert!"

"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look!" Tsuna gasped. Where had this boy come from?!

"Fuck off, you stupid duck! Before I turn you into a roast feast." With a snap of his fingers the ground at Tsuna 's feet exploded into fire. He screeched in terror and flap-flew-ran clumsily away through the trees, and didn't stop until he reached the lake.

Wheezing, he sank into the heavenly cool water, soothing his aching rubber feet and body. He waited for his heart to calm down and stop battering against his breast before he could even consider what had just happened.

So the path that had led up to the turtle had been the boy's magic – hence the burns and holes. That bit made some sense, but not much else. He was making a path to the lake from the middle of nowhere...for what reason? It was a mystery, and it made Tsuna's head hurt. He wasn't good with riddles.

He was vigilant the remainder of the day, despite his exhaustion and want of sleep, weary of the boy who had threatened to roast him with his strange magic. He had no doubts that he would do it. He was perfectly capable. And because Tsuna was so tense, his heart almost stopped at the sight of the boy emerging from the trees as the sun began to set. Dressed this time, but he took off his clothes in such a way that nothing was actually seen, and slipped into the water silently. It was the first time Tsuna had ever seen it happen – how could he have missed it!

The boy crawled onto the platform in the center of the lake and sat there with his head resting on his fist, waiting.

Tsuna wanted to keep an eye on him, but then he heard the familiar voice of Mukuro calling his name, and spotted the wizard waving at him, making a wide arc with his out stretched arm to catch his attention. Tsuna realized how late it was...any minute now he would transform...

which, of coarse, he did. The moon rose without him noticing, the familiar light blossomed beneath him, the water warmed, and he was thrust upwards and elongated and stripped until he was Tsuna again, standing waist deep in the lake.

Worried that the boy would see him, he glanced at the platform...

To the statue of the creepy frog, one that disappeared during the day, and only appeared at night...

_Oh,_ Tsuna thought. A strange flood of light-headed relief swept through him, making him smile. He wasn't alone after all!

*

Knowing what he knew, Tsuna returned to the turtle spot on the path, feeling brave.

"Do you have a death wish, shitty duck?" Called the boy, the moment Tsuna came into view in the distance. "Move the fuck out of my sight, I'll give you two seconds to waddle away before I-"

"I-I'm not doing anything!"

"I don't care. Disappear or I'll MAKE you disappear."

He was wearing clothes today.

He was scary, Tsuna thought. Almost as scary as Hibari. Almost.

He tried spying on the boys progress through the branches of a tree out of curiosity and want of company, but the boy set fire to the branch he settled on and let it fall without warning. Tsuna escaped getting crushed or spitted with singed tail feathers and a panic attack.

He went back the next day.

"Is that turtle a person like you?" Tsuna said, finally figuring it out. Why would this boy spend every day inching a giant statue into the direction of the lake if that wasn't the case?

"Don't talk to me."

"Maybe I could help..."

"I don't need your help. Get lost!" Clenched fist. Gritted teeth.

In a smaller voice still. "I'm Tsuna."

"Shut the fuck up! Like I give a shit!" Two explosions on either side of Tsuna made him fly-jump and slam into the trunk of a tree, hitting his head and sending him dizzy. He lay there for a minute, waiting for the ground to stop spinning.

When he finally lifted his head, he saw with surprise the boy watching him with a strange expression on his face. As soon as he rolled onto his feet, however, the boy only scowled and turned his back, continued with his pushing. He never stopped, he rarely had a break. He pushed and pushed and pushed.

Tsuna got up wobbly to his feet and just sat there quietly. He preferred to be in someones company than alone on the lake, even hostile company.

Tsuna went back to the lake feeling dejected, trying to think of a way that would make the mysterious silver haired boy trust him a little more.

That night as a boy, when Mukuro had gone, and Gokudera was a frog, Tsuna set out on a mission to find the turtle. The moon was full, illuminating the path Gokudera had made through the trees.

He set about his work.

-----

When the boy arrived at the statue the next morning, he paused to scout out which tree the swan was cowering behind today. He hated being spied on by those beady little eyes and the still, expressionless creature, as harmless as it was. He didn't even wonder where it had come from, he didn't give a fuck. All he knew was that it was another one of Mukuro's kids he'd wanted to mess around with, a kid who loved to nose around into other peoples business.

It was early morning, the air was cool and crisp, so he didn't feel the need to take off his shirt. He braced himself against the back of the turtle, feet splayed, using the strength from his legs and heaved...

and fell right onto his arse as the turtle gave way. Shocked, he scrambled up and peered at the statue, which had moved forward so easily that he hadn't been expecting it. He scratched his head and circled the statue in wonder...why was it so...

And then he noticed the path he was standing on. A smooth, craggy-free path lay ahead of the turtle for a good couple of feet, with not a stone, root or ditch in sight. Not so much as a pebble to hinder the statues progress.

His mind flew to Mukuro, the fucker was probably messing with his head. But then he considered the eyes that had been watching him these past few days, trying to speak with him...

He got back to work, unsure of how he felt about the whole thing. Not grateful, that was for certain! Did that creepy chicken think he could get on his good side for picking out a few pebbles? A few hours labour? Was he insulting his already hard-work in forming that path in the first place?!

He'd wait for that shitty bird to appear later. But the swan didn't appear that day...

* * *

*

Nor the next. And on the third he thought that maybe the statue had shifted a little...a pitiful amount, a foot maybe, but it had moved all the same, past the marker that the boy put there every night in order to mark his progress...

* * *

And the path became smooth from the moment he stepped foot on it by the time he got angry enough to turn around right then and there march right up to the swan, who he'd spotted doing nothing but sleeping in the reeds all day.

* * *

He splashed through the lake, wadded towards the snowy swan curled into itself on the water, raised fists, and clicked his fingers.

Tsuna woke to the sudden exploding of water directly in front of him, and flapped hysterically and fell clumsily backwards and under the water, flailing madly. It was the stupidest thing the boy had ever seen.

Tsuna finally settled enough to notice the dark shadow falling over him, and looked up shakily at the boy.

Dread. What did he do wrong now??

"What the fuck, kid." Tsuna was shocked at the nickname. 'Kid', the boy had said. He knew about him?

"erm..." Tsuna was still nervous. "What did I-?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you little shit. You know exactly what I'm talking about

Tsuna trembled, and in a small voice. "I...thought that maybe....that I could help..."

"I DONT NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP!" The boy screamed. He was just...angry.

Tsuna realized what was wrong. Hibari was the same, when he got mad like this, for no reason...

The was unbearably sad. He could see it now, in his deep frown and slumped walk. He was blinded by fear before – but it was there, clear as day.

Tsuna swallowed, feeling a little braver now that he thought he understood a little bit."That person..." Tsuna said, hesitantly, carefully, "...is your friend? Family?"

He didn't answer.

"You miss them?"

"I only came here to make sure that you don't ever touch him ever again!" The boy snarled, "Not to get fucking psycho-analyzed by a fucking duck! Stay the hell away from me. Stop spying on me. Leave me the fuck alone!"

"Did Mukuro do this to you?"

"Who else, genius? You know what, I hate people like you. Think you know everything about me just cause you've been spying on me for the past few days? Fuck you. I see you again, you're dead."

Tsuna watched miserably as he disappeared into the trees, and despaired that he seemed to have only made the situation worse. He was exhausted too, from all of last night, and couldn't help but feel fed up and sad, and horribly dejected. He just...wanted to help. And in this form, he couldn't even cry.

That night when the fire-boy crawled into the water, he stood before a nervous Tsuna, who could only think that the boy was about to strangle him to death or set fire to him or something.

"I...." the boy stopped, looked away angrily. Tsuna saw the fists he was making, and at first thought that he wanted to punch him in stead, and backed away, spluttering 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Stop it." the boy said forcefully. 'Don't say that. It's- not like you...did anything...wrong."

Tsuna saw him struggling, trying to say something. The fists are shaking, not cause he's angry at him, Tsuna felt...angry at himself? Tsuna was confused.

The boy swallowed, tried to continue. "He...I'm..." He took a deep breath. "Tuna, right?"

Tsuna stared, realized what the boy was asking. "It's...Tsuna."

The boy scowled, and Tsuna saw his mistake and spluttered "but-but its an easy mistake to make! I mean, people always get confused at first..." not true, it was very rare that Tsuna ever met someone who didn't know his name, if ever. He was a prince, after all. "So, it's not like you could get it right...right away. It's a weird name."

Silence.

"I'm...Gokudera." He said lamely.

Tsuna blinked, and if swans could make an expression, his would be very surprised.

"Pleased to meet you, Gokudera." Tsuna replied. Gokudera nodded, then slowly waded and swam back to his perch. He stood up slowly, faced him, and then stared at the water.

Tsuna transformed, and when he looked back, so had Gokudera.

--

The next day Tsuna watched over Gokudera as he did before. After the initial hostility, Gokudera was infact surprisingly talkative. He started off odd though. They didn't say anything all morning, then out of nowhere:

"I'm not a pervert or anything, you know."

Tsuna was stunned. Where had that come from!

"I'm not...some sort of nudist or exhibitionist or whatever. There's never anyone around to see me in the mornings – ever! And then you appeared one day and I just, forgot that you were around, so..."

Tsuna would have blushed at the memory of seeing Gokudera for the first time. he was...embarrassed?

"It's..."

"Just forget it. Whatever. I just...just don't think that...just forget it."

Tsuna would have smiled if he had the face for it. He was...kind of cute.

"It's fine. I'm a guy too, you know." he said quietly. Gokudera nodded, stony faced.

"yeah...yeah..." he pauses. "It was his fucking fault, you know. I'm not stupid enough to land myself in this position, so don't lump me with the two of you."

"Huh?!" Where was this guy getting his crazy accusations from? "I never thought you were-"

"'Lets go for a swim', he says. Fucking idiot. I fucking warned him, stupid bastard. We were just kids, you know? I didn't...didn't really think..." He stopped.

Tsuna caught on. He was talking about when he had the spell cast on him. "Mukuro...turned you into statues, didn't he? For swimming in the lake?"

Gokudera didn't reply straight away, weighing up the answer. "Not at first." he said, shaking his head. "Same spell as you at first, but in reverse. I'm a frog when I transform, remember? And I do it at night. This idiots pretty obvious." He jerked his thumb to the turtle statue.

"Then, he just decided to turn you both into statues one day?" Tsuna tried.

"Something like that" Gokudera conceded, figeting awkwardly. "We didn't..._don't_...really get on- I mean...he's a fucking goofball!" He exclaimed suddenly with force. "The biggest fucking idiot you'd ever meet. Everything's a game to him, y'know? That bastard Mukuro's no better, they're both a pair of weirdos. God, you know he changed us in the first place because we were 'pretty boys?' Fucking insane. What sort of reason is that to totally fuck up a kids life? One minute we were swimmin', the next I'm clinging to a fucking lily pad with my webbed hands." He held up his hands. "You have no idea what it's like being a normal guy one minute and fucking frog the next-"

_Actually, I do..._Tsuna thought, but he didn't interrupt him. This was the longest that Gokudera had ever talked to him so far without getting angry at him and threatening to blow him up.

"-it's his fault again, too, that we got turned into statues, you know? I mean, like I said, we didn't get on...there's no living with an idiot like him, he grates on my fucking nerves like nothing else. Really, really, fucking...annoying." He stopped for a minute, swallowed, frowned. "I'm not a very patient person when it comes to idiots...but, maybe...if I'd..." He'd gotten quieter and teetered off at the end, but then he shook his head forcefully. "Whatever. What's done is done. We argued every night, as usual, and one day Mukuro threw a curse out the window and we turned to stone. By night, stone frog, stone turtle. By day, we're back to how you see me now. Obviously, there's a fucking catch." He gestured to the turtle. "Fucking, fucking _fucking _idiot."

Tsuna understood. He was under the same spell, really. "You can only become human again when you're on the lake."

Gokudera nodded, but he'd turned his back to Tsuna so that all he could see was the slight shake of his bowed head. Tsuna swallowed in dread.

"So...he never made it to the lake in time."

Gokudera bounced his head once."Fucking, fucking, f_ucking _idiot." quieter, more force this time. His voice had changed too, sounded throaty. Tsuna wasn't sure whether he was talking about his friend, or himself.

"So...so when he makes it to the lake," Tsuna hedged, "he will become himself again?"

"Maybe." Gokudera shrugged. Tsuna felt himself tremble at the uncertain answer. "I don't know about that yet. If he stays that way for ever, then it would serve him right for being such a fucking moron."

And yet Gokudera had pushed and pushed this statue so far. Tsuna remembered trying to budge the thing by night while Gokudera couldn't, and he'd gotten nowhere with the attempt. The thing was _heavy_. As though it had grown out of the earth, like the tip of an iceburg. He'd only managed a foot and a half before he'd almost fainted from the effort. And Gokudera...

"You're incredibly strong." Tsuna said quietly. _In more ways than one..._he thought. Had he been alone and hurting all this time?

* * *

"Whatever." Gokudera replied gruffly, and went back to doing the same thing he'd been doing for weeks...months..years...maybe. Hoping, praying, giving everything he had...with all his heart and soul...so that he could have his best friend back.

* * *

That night, Tsuna waited in the spot he knew Mukuro would appear in with a purpose. He tranformed with the moon, and Mukuro was very amused with his appearence.

"Oya?" Mukuro exclaimed. "What an interesting expression you have, Tsunayoshi."

"Mukuro..." Tsuna said, softly at first, a little afraid of what the answer maybe. His heart was thrumming in his chest, he felt almost sick with worry.

"Ah! You spoke!" Mukuro said in fake surprise. He sank to the floor with his head in his cupped hands. "How lovely."

"Mukuro..." he hesitated. "The statue...the one of the turtle."

"What turtle?"

Tsuna blanched. How could he not know? "The one on the path over there!"

"What path?"

"The one that Gokudera made in order to save his friend!" he said, his voice laced with a hint of hysteria.

"Who's Gokudera?" He sat up, pouting. "Are you cheating on me?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" Tsuna practically screeched, shaking with frustration.

"I do?" He grinned calmly, his voice as smooth as silk.

"Yes, you do! I know you do. You turned two boys into animals, like me, one a frog the other a turtle, and then you turned them to stone, and now one of them every night is trying to push and drag the other back to the lake so that he can be human again! Don't act like you don't know about it! It's happening right on your lake!""I don't care about stuff like that. I only have eyes for you, my love."

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Your, stupid games! You're playing with peoples lives, Mukuro! It's not fun. It's not a game."

"Oya? Are you upset with me? Here, I brought you a present." He put his hands behind his back and pulled out a bunch of flowers. "For you. Forgive me?"

"Stop messing around! I want you to answer my question."

"Will you fall in love with me if I do?"

"No..."

"Then I'm not inclined to tell you anything." He turned his nose up.

"Mukuro! I can't just heave my feelings into my mouth for you!"

"Why not? It's easy. You just fall in love with me, then kiss me, then stay with me forever."

"What...that's not physically possible! What you're doing is childish and wrong! How could I ever fall in love with someone who does such cruel, and heartless things to people for no reason?"

"Wrong? Why wrong? I love you, how can such glorious feelings be anything but real?"

"Of coarse you don't love me. No one would ever imprison the one they love, treat them this way...do you even know what you're saying?"

"I want you to love me with all your heart, so that I have it for myself, and I get to do whatever I like to you, and you'd love me for it. Is that not love?"

"Mukuro. Love is..." Tsuna sighed. "It's not only wanting them to love you back so that you can treat them like a slave, or keeping them to yourself! It's...more like...you'd do anything for them to be happy...

Like putting heart and soul into pushing a rock every waking moment until you can be with them again. Giving everything you have for their wellbeing, not putting thought into yourself, only them...

_(The tree house crashed to the ground, the warm pressure was lifted, and Tsuna realized that it was Hibari who had protected him, had held him and broken his fall...)_

"...as long as they are happy...and safe...protecting them, being close to them...

(_In bed, face tinged pink from a fever. 'Come here, Tsuna...')_

"...but true, unconditional love...

_(Tsuna felt a hand snake behind him around his waist, and he was pulled a little into the crook of Hibari's shoulder. Tsuna's eyes widened._

_"It's a little warmer this way, isn't it?" Hibari said quietly into Tsuna's ear.)_

"Do...you really think that's what you feel?"

_(Hibari lying on the roof, watching the clouds with his head cushioned by his hands...breeze in his raven hair...)_

_(A yellow bird on his shoulder. _

"_Isn't that the bird we saved?")_

_Hibari, who is always close to the sky. _

_Hibari, who said that he...loved him. _

_("I'll BITE you to death.")_

_("Wrong twin...") _

_oh Hibari. _Tsuna whimpered, and almost turned away from Mukuro, drawing into himself. He clutched onto his shirt, over his heart, and Mukuro could see that he was shaking a little.

Mukuro sat up straight and started paying attention.

"What do you wish to ask me, Tsuna?" He asked.

Tsuna swallowed, and in a quiet voice, "when Gokudera gets his friend to the lake...w-will he...the turtle...will he become himself again by daylight?"

Mukuro pretended to scrutinize the flowers he had conjured, said "No, never. That boy is as good as dead."

* * *

**A/N: ****I don't get why those line breaks keep appearing halfway through, but just ignore them? k thx, and thank-you very kindly for the wonderful reviews! The latest one was a kick up the bum to just bloody post it already, it was long enough. This chapter was too long so I split it, part 2 comes soon. :) **


	15. Kiss the Rain 2

**Kiss the Rain: Part 2**

* * *

Tsuna felt hollow. Crushed under the weight of his words.

"He made a promise to me, which was broken by him trying to escape." Mukuro said, getting to his feet and dusting off imaginary dirt. "It serves him right."

Tsuna felt his insides crumple and break like an autumn leaf under a boot, and his face hid nothing from it's audience. Eyes already shining with frustration overflowed with salty tears, his face that was already heated pink with passion drained white with dread.

"So. So what. You don't have the power? You...you have the power, but won't?"

A shrug from Mukuro, who refused to look at the prince while he wore such a pained expression.

"H-how can you be so heartless?" Tsuna gasped. "He. He didn't do anything wrong." Tsuna was shocked at his own lack of control over his emotions...but it was so sad. Gokudera had tried so hard.

He glanced back towards the statue, saw the moonlight white on the back of the frog.

"_Shit._" he hissed in frustration under his breath. He splashed down into the lake, not caring about his wet clothes. "Please, Mukuro. Don't do this."

Mukuro shrugged again. "Do what?"

Tsuna didn't even have the heart to get angry at him. He simply bit his lip and hid his face in his arms, tried to stop the cries from being too loud. "P-poor Gokudera", he moaned. "Oh, god. How can I tell him?"

Mukuro shifted uncomfortably. Tsuna felt a disturbance on the water, and jerked back as a slim hand gently patted his head. He peeked through blurry eyes and there was Mukuro, crouched down on the surface of the water. He gently touched the side of Tsuna's cheek. "You're leaking, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna pushed the hand away with force and stormed off, splashing clumsily through the lake.

"You don't even know that boy." Mukuro called, strolling after him on the surface of the lake.

"Don't follow me!" Tsuna snapped brokenly.

"You've spoken to him only once!" Mukuro puzzled aloud, "And yet you cry as though your heart is breaking."

Tsuna cringed. _That's because...I can't help but think, that if it was Hibari who...!_

Tsuna stopped in his tracks, struck with a thought. Mukuro caught up with him and walked around so that he was standing in front of him, standing on water without falling through. He looked down at Tsuna questioningly...

who simply shrugged, crosses his arms, faced away from Mukuro, but didn't turn away completely. "Well, I don't suppose you can do it, then." He sniffed wetly and wiped his face. "It's-It's not like you're all-powerful. I'm sorry for getting angry at you like that...if it's a matter of not being powerful enough..." He bowed his head. "Then it can't be helped."

"Oya, little prince! Who do you think you are doubting so freely?"

Tsuna shrugged, holding his breath in hope.

"I don't like that face you're pulling. And I don't like what you're thinking. It's not fun, not fun at all." he pouted. He settled crossed legged on the lake, and tilted Tsuna's head to look into his mismatched eyes. Tsuna surrendered, though he feared their power...this is for his friend. He felt like this could be it...hadn't this trick always worked with Hibari? _Poke at his pride, _Tsuna thought. _With a really long stick.._

"If the boy, Gokudera, can make it to the lake with the statue," Mukuro contended slowly, as though just thinking up the idea himself, "then I will let him become a boy again."

Tsuna exhaled shakily, and bit his bottom lip. "Really?" He asked cautiously, "You mean that?"

Mukuro nodded, his lips pouting. "If you like." He grinned, "Do you love me now?"

Tsuna shook his head. "But," he said carefully, not wanting to make him change his mind, "you don't seem so impossible to love anymore."

Mukuro sulked, but kept his word.

*

Tsuna immediately got to work. By day, while Gokudera pushed, Tsuna would make sure the path was smooth and not hindering. By night Tsuna pushed it all night long by himself, and took some of the work load off his hard working friend. Gokudera talked as they worked. About the lake, about what he used to do before this incident, about what he thought about Mukuro, what he'd like to do to Mukuro if he ever had chance, what he'd do when he got home. But mostly he talked about Yamamoto, the turtle they were pushing. It seemed he'd had a lot to say over the past few years...

"I mean, it's hard to tell how long you've been down here. We used to wonder around the forest, you know, we know this area off by heart. He'd play fucking baseball every chance he got, and there was nothing better to do, so I had no choice but to pitch to him. Tried using fire balls instead once, but it didn't bother him, crazy bastard. Nothing fazes him. And we built a tree house, somewhere to hang out, you know? It was something to do..."

_A_nd then, one day, finally, they make it to the lake. The timing couldn't have been better...the sun was just about to set, the air frosty with winter bite. Gokudera gave it the final push, and down it sunk, though not very deep.

Having nothing else to focus on, and when the possibility of it all being a waste of time started to occur to Gokudera, he started to panic.

He laughed nervously, pacing on the bank of the lake. "What if this doesn't fucking work? I mean, I don't think...shit."

"It'll work." Tsuna chirped, from his seat on the turtle's back.

"I mean...it probably won't, he's been like this for...what? A couple years now? I mean...shit.

"Maybe I should just..." And then Gokudera started cupping water onto the shell, using reeds to wipe it off. Tsuna was surprised at how jittery he was, how nervous.

"I don't know how you do it." Tsuna said, shaking his bird head. "Where do you get your energy from?"

Gokudera shrugged. "Well, whether I want to or not, I get a solid 10 hours sleep every night, don't I? Give or take a few hours depending on seasonal variation."

Tsuna giggled.

"What?"

"'Solid 10 hours', you said. You turn to s_tone."_

Gokudera raised an eyebrow at that, then smiled a little. "You're weird."

Tsuna blushed at being called weird, but beamed with delight at seeing Gokuderas expression soften like that. He had a nice smile, and it was the first time he'd seen it since they'd met. He wanted to see it as much as possible in the future.

He wondered if Yamamoto could make Gokudera smile like that. Probably. _I wonder what kind of person he is..._

Gokudera stopped cleaning and wiped his hands on his trousers, biting his bottom lip. "Shit. Shitshitshit." He chanted, walking around in aimless circles and pulling on his hair. "It's not going to work. He's stuck like that. He's dead. He's dead..."

"Please don't worry, Gokudera. You're going to make yourself sick! I promise you, when you wake up in the morning, he'll be your friend again."

"Yeah well what d'you know? You're just a stupid kid. Fuck."

Tsuna blanched, but knew Gokudera was just anxious, and was taking it out on him. Best leave him alone until the morning, then.

"He will definitely turn back." Tsuna reassured one last time, before retreating over to the rick pile, where already Mukuro was appearing to. "I can't wait to meet Yamamoto!" Tsuna called over his feathery back, and the last thing he saw was Gokudera with his head in his hands, sitting on his stone plaque, for all the world looking like he'd already lost him.

*

The last thing Gokudera saw before he slept was Yamamoto's face in his mind, and if he could dream he'd have probably dreamt it. The first thing he saw after he woke up was the white stillness of the drowsy lake, as though time had sucked out the air from the atmosphere, leaving a freezing vacuum for Gokudera to struggle in.

He was terrified. He tried to take a deep breath to brace himself with, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, and slowly turned around.

The most beautiful sound in the world, the fucking best thing he'd ever heard, broke over the calm in a warm wave of sunlight.

A laugh. _His _laugh.

That son of a bitch...

"Ahahaha! A swan, is it?" Boomed the voice. Gokudera slipped into the water. "That Mukuro, still turning kids into animals..." Yamamoto, sensing that he was being watched, turned and spotted Gokudera standing there, having jumped off the plaque and having swum close enough to hear them. "Hey Gokudera! I told you we could make it, didn't I?" He smiled merrily, for all the world acting as though not a day had passed since they'd last seen each other, which, for Yamamoto, it had been.

Gokudera, for the first time since he left home, could not swallow around the lump in his throat, could not help the heating of his cheeks, could not stem the flow of heavy tears rolling down his face. "St-stupid!" he chocked, trying to wipe them away. "Stupid, stupid, _fucking_ idiot. I h-hate you!" As Yamamoto approached him, he made a feeble attempt to push him away.

"Ma, ma, I'm sorry, Gokudera." He said gently, and pulled Gokudera into an embrace anyway, like a brother. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

But Gokudera could make no reply, he was crying so hard and clutching onto Yamamoto as though his life depended on it. Yamamoto hugged him back. "I knew you loved me really."

Yamamoto was taken by surprise when he was suddenly thrown over Gokudera's shoulder and crashed into the lake. He came up for air to have Gokudera hold his head underneath some more.

"Didn't I tell you that if you didn't make it, I would drown you in the lake!" Gokudera roared. Yamamoto only laughed and coughed as he was lifted out again, seeing Gokudera's mixed expression made him feel so happy.

"I'm glad you haven't changed, Gokudera!"

"You haven't changed one little bit, you fucking moron."

"Ouch, Gokudera. That hurt!" He grinned, winking up at him with his hair dripping with droplets from the lake.

"I'm glad!" Gokudera snapped. Yamamoto was looking up at him, unchanged, his silly face smiling up from underneath him, and just like before, he couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips, and the tears that fell from his eyes, no more than he could stop the sun from shining, or the rain from falling.

He gave a harsh sigh to dispel them, wiped his face one more time and then even laughed a little, breathless. "I'm glad" He breathed, hugging his friend into the water. "I'm glad!" He choked, holding him tightly and laughing. "Don't ever leave me again, you fucking goofball."

"It's a promise!" Yamamoto laughed, trying not to let himself drown. "It's a promise."

*

Yamamoto wasn't what Tsuna had expected. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, really...but it certainly wasn't such a happy, easy-going guy like him. He was a little taller that Gokudera, with a kind, open face and strange yellow eyes that had at first made Tsuna nervous. Another magic user?

His heart could have burst with happiness when he'd seen him standing there in the lake, looking around that morning. When Yamamoto had spotted him he'd waved cheerfully and waded over, and a minute later Gokudera had joined them.

When they met, it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

He missed Hibari terribly.

Gokudera became very devoted to Tsuna after that. Building a nest for him in the reeds, offering him food, getting rid of other animals that got too close...

Later that day Yamamoto was alone with Tsuna while Gokudera went to get some food. He asked Tsuna about the path made for him, which he'd spotted as he took a walk around the lake to stretch his stiff legs.

He kneaded the back of his head in discomfort. "How long had he been-?"

Tsuna hesitated. "A long time, Yamamoto. But, I don't think he cares about that. He's not mad at you." Tsuna says, but at Yamamoto's eyebrow quirk, he mended 'well, I guess he IS mad at you, but he's more happy than sad about it now. I don't think he'll hold it against you." Yamamoto's mouth twisted. "Don't think about things like that. It wouldn't make him happy."

"Yeah..." he agreed with a sigh, and then a sunshine smile spread across his face at Tsuna. "I remember you, you know. You're that little prince from the river we saw one day."

Tsuna gave him a swan look of 'huh?'

"What, you don't remember me? That's harsh, Tsuna. But then, we never really spoke." (:D)

Yamamoto put on his loose white shirt, just as Gokudera walked towards them, and from the knowing smile on Yamamoto's face, Tsuna was struck with a memory.

_The boy seemed to be looking directly at Tsuna. Even as Tsuna watched, the boy waved at him __a little as though he knew him, making Tsuna take a step back in surprise. _

_Suddenly another boy fell out of the trees, this one with silvery grey hair framing a stern expression on his face. This one tapped the first boy on the shoulder harshly, pointed towards the sun and then, without warning, hurriedly dragged him off back into the trees. _

"You!" Tsuna gasped, flapping his wings in surprise. "You're those kids from the forest that one time!"

"Yep, that's us. How is that family of yours?"

"They're...I don't know." Tsuna sagged. "I haven't seen them in weeks."

"Oi, stop making Tsuna think bad thoughts, you bastard!" Gokudera snapped nudging past him with apples and pears and a fish on a plate. "Breakfast, Tsuna!" He said cheerily.

"Hey, how did a prince get turned into a swan, anyway?" Yamamoto said around Gokudera. "What's your story?"

"Ah, well...I guess I was kidnapped."

"Hm? How come?"

"I don't know." Tsuna had thought of this a lot. "Mukuro wants me to..." he blushed. "Stay with him. Forever. He stole me from our carriage, the day before..." Tsuna hesitated, "the day before my wedding day, actually."

"Ohhh! Who's the lucky girl?"

"Ah, well. That's. Complicated."

"What is?"

Tsuna sighed. Maybe he'd have to start from the beginning.

Tsuna took a deep breath, and began to tell them about how he came to become a swan.

*

Though Tsuna was busy having small adventures deep in the forest, the two kingdoms had come to a grinding stand still.

Queen Nana didn't want to force the issue of marriage onto Hibari and Kyoko any longer, what with the tragedy that had befallen. The Vongola kingdom had drawn into itself, with the elderly wearing drab colours in honour of their king and prince, death lingering in the slowed steps of the people, the hesitancy in their actions, and confusion reined. Who was the heir to the thrown? Sixteen year old Kyoko? Or her more experienced uncle, Xanxus?

This uncertainty made the kingdom vulnerable to attacks from any over countries, and people could no longer go to the kingdom for experienced advice from their king, or to settle disputes, and give support to the morale.

However, the king had left behind a strong, kind and stable kingdom, one that could function without their daily visits to the castle when they needed help, at least for a little while longer. For this, Queen Kyoko was very grateful. Besides, should war come, they knew they had support from the Namimori castle.

Even now, the Namimori Princess Haru was currently staying with Princess Kyoko in her time of great need.

Kyoko had not left the palace since the incident, and always worried for her friends safety when she came to her, but could not stop her.

"How is Hibari?" Kyoko asked sadly, hugging Haru warmly as she arrived.

"Stubborn as ever. That boy, he hasn't slowed down since...I'm afraid that he's going to burn out."

"Still, I'm sort of glad. He's one of the few who still believes in Tsuna...I'm grateful for that."

Haru smiled in understanding, but then it was her job to help Kyoko forget about such things, not dwell on them. Not while Haru was around! "You're not the one who has to look after his birds for him, Kyoko. What a pain!"

"Couldn't the servants do that, Haru?"

"Oh, no! They are very particular. They are Hibirds family, and they tend to be very hostile to strangers, even other birds. Surprising, considering how tiny they are. I just let them out to fly in the morning and closed it again at night, and feed them. Recently I've been taking care of a new bird that flew in...it's a silly little thing, I think it's a sea-bird from the village cliffs. He seems to like me, though..."

And so while Haru helped Kyoko get a long in the Vongola kingdom, Hibari's friend tried his best for his prince at Namimori.

Dino spent most of his time helping Hibari to train, as per his request. He was glad to do it, as it seemed to take Hibari's mind off certain matters. He'd dare say it was fun, thinking up new ways to sharpen Hibari's instincts, the way a personal tutor would do. It was invigorating, and terrifying at the same time. Hibari would improve in leaps and bounds.

Hibari never cried after what had happened a few weeks ago. Dino supposed that his heart had perhaps been crying blood. If he was cold to start with, it was nothing like now. He was always alone, training like a demon, and nothing could make him angry at all, any more than anything could make him smile.

A few weeks had past with no luck from the search, and people had one by one given their beloved young prince up for dead. Dino dreaded hearing it from people, afraid that Hibari would come to hear of it and would explode, but worse than that, he seemed to do the opppsite. More training. Archery, sparring, hunting, brawling...

and an inordinate amount of time in the library.

"What are you looking for?" Dino had dared to ask one day, and had only been met with the cryptic response: "He said, it was what they seem." He flipped a page. "What sort of creature is that?"

Whenever he was a lone and not training or in the library, Hibari would wonder to the roof of the palace, and sit amoung the stars. Hibari remembered when he had told Tsuna that he himself did not ever want to be a king. It was a thought he'd only shared with Tsuna...for how ridiculous was it, a price not wanting to be king? What else could he be? He sometimes felt lost in his thoughts of such things. And yet, now that Kyoko, younger than him, had been forced to become Queen of her own country...the concept had never revolted him more.

It was because Hibari liked to have his freedom. The closer Hibari got to becoming king, and the older, the more he realized that he had no choice in the matter, and the more he resented it. Hadn't he always had a love of birds flying free? His own oblivious mother had noticed his tendency to disappear and wonder back whenever the mood took him. He could never be caught whenever he disappeared like that – except for by Tsuna.

It was uncanny the way Tsuna had always had knack for stumbling upon him. Hibari had once resented him for it, but in a way, it was like he was constantly being found. Whenever he is lost, Tsuna is there for him. Tsuna seems to just...know the way, somehow. Tsuna was there...he will always find him.

_That's why this time, I will be the one to find you, Tsuna._

_

* * *

  
_

**A/N: **Twice I've been asked, so I may as well make this clear for those of you who don't know, even though it's quite a bit into the fic now :) When I was new to the fandom I was confused too, kept having to google every fic I came across o_o but here it is, **a KHR Number System Tutorial, courtesy of DattebayoRamenLover** (who could do a better job than me), copy and pasted off crunchyroll:

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When Japan was just breaking off of China (Japanese people originally came from china) they made their own counting system.

**1** = Hi  
**2** = Fu  
**3** = Mi  
**4** = Yo  
**5** = Itsu  
**6** = Muu  
**7** = Nana  
**8** = Ya  
**9** = Kono  
**10** = To

But as everyone knows that was like... a bazillion years ago. Before America was born... or founded... whatever. Here's the "new" way of counting in Japanese, what is used today.

**1** = Ichi  
**2** = Ni  
**3** = San  
**4** = Yon/Shi  
**5** = Go  
**6** = Roku  
**7** = Shichi/Nana  
**8** = Hachi  
**9** = Kyuu/Ku  
**10** = Juu

The last chart is the easiest, I promise. It's our way of counting!

**1** = One  
**2** = Two  
**3** = Three  
**4** = Four  
**5** = Five  
**6** = Six  
**7** = Seven  
**8** = Eight  
**9** = Nine  
**10** = Ten

You need to know these ways of counting, for it is the root of all that is numbers. What the hell does this have to do with reborn? Everything my friend, everything.

Hayato **Go**kudera = 59  
The easiest one to figure out (in my mind)

**Ku**romu Dokuro = 96  
A little less obvious. Remember her name is Kuromu Dokuro （クローム髑髏） in Japanese BUT as you all know it's Chrome Dokuro. Ku as in 9 and Ro as a shortening of Roku for 6.

**Tsu**nayoshi Sawada = 27  
I totally did NOT see this coming. Okay this made my head spin, buuuut it makes semi-sense. Tsu is basically the Japanese TRYING to say "Two" and Na is a... short version of Nana meaning 7.

Last comment. Let's say you have a character like Lambo. What number is he? Well in fact he has NO number. Same with Reborn. SOOOO We give them a letter. BUT Lambo and Lal Mirch are both L (Lawliet Hahaha!) soooo to tell them apart we have L for Lal Mirch and L8 for Lambo. --- I'm not 100% on the L8 as Lambo, I just heard that from someone. Usually L is ONLY used for Lambo, but it can also mean Lal Mirch, hence L8. Reborn is thus given the letter R.

Complete list:

Tsunayoshi Sawada = 27  
Hayato Gokudera = 59  
Takeshi Yamamoto = 80  
Mukuro Rokudo = 69  
Chrome Dokuro = 96  
Hibari Kyouya = 18

Reborn = R  
Lambo = L or L8 (whatever floats your boat I guess)  
Lal Mirch = L  
Colonello = C or 56

Dino = D

Xanxus = X or 3 (I've also seen 1010 used)  
Squalo = S or 39  
Belphegor = B  
Mammon/Viper= M

Byakuran = 100  
Irie Shouichi = 51  
Spanner = 48

Basil = 84  
Chikusa = 493 or 193  
Kokuyo = 594  
Haru = 86

What if I'm talking about Ten Years Later (TYL!) characters? Like TYL! Mukuro? Just add 10 to their number/letter. So if I want TYL! Mukuro I just say 1069.

When using numbers, please, for the love of the Vongola Primo remember SemeUke order. 6918 is COMPLETELY different from 1869. They are in no way the same, and don't ever think that they are.

**(chazsvp2 N/B:** for example, if I'd have made this a 2718 love story, Hibari would be turned into a swan and Tsuna would be his knight in shining armour come to rescue him!)

Yes, this is used MOSTLY for yaoi pairings, but I recommend EVERY Reborn-fan know this. Not because you'll be searching for Reborn yaoi (or het for that matter) anytime soon, but because it makes math class funny. ^_^

I hope I taught you something in this tutorial. -nods- Now you can laugh at ketchup bottles that say "Founded in 1869" and stuff like that. Yea, it's that fun. XD

* * *

**Back to chazsvp2's A/N:** Hope that was educational for you, folks! It sure was enlightening for me.

So no, this fic isn't based in the year 1827 or anything...it's just a fandom thing, part of the language game, people! Wittgenstein, anyone? No? Okay then...moving on.

Next chapter...*checks notes* ohh I like this one...okay. Erm...one clue then...we meet Ryohei! Yay! And with a little help from his friends Tsuna's gonna make a break for home. :)

Thanks for all the great reviews, I really love them. I was determined to get the second part of this chapter out before the week was up tho, didn't mean to wait this long :S just, new ideas kept getting stuffed in. I hate that. I know it's more of a conclusion of the last chapter rather than any progression in plot but...oh well. If you want to see anything in particular remember to mention it in reviews and I'll do my best :)

K thx bi x


	16. No Fear!

**A/N: I hate people not finishing their fanfics and not updating in years at a time -_- **Thanks for having faith in me!

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**No Fear to the EXTREME**!

* * *

"Hibari kissed you?" Gokudera said increduously. "A guy? Really?"

"Is that such a bad thing, Gokudera?"

"It's not bad! Just, surprising. I mean, from the story leading up to it, he doesn't sound like the type."

"Well he's always been a little strange..." Tsuna said thoughtfully.

"And what happened next, Tsuna?"

Tsuna shuffled his feathers in nervousness, reliving the experience. It helped to talk about it though, it made him see everything from an outside point of view. Hibari never cared what anyone ever thought about him, and only did what he thought was right for a king. What was he thinking when he'd kissed Tsuna like that? Worse than that, what was he thinking when Tsuna, in front of everyone...

"I...I ran away." Tsuna glanced up at the stunned faces of his friends, felt a lump of guilt forming in his throat. "I'm n-not proud of it,"

"It's okay, Tsuna. You were probably just a bit surprised, weren't you?" Yamamoto said, drapping a comforting arm around his feathered back.

Tsuna nodded pathetically._ Though 'surprised' doesn't seem to cover it. Try 'shocked' or 'horrified', _he thought. He recalled the sqirming feeling of birds and butterflies erupting in his stomach as he was being kissed, which were only to flee and leave a huge pit of nothing in it's wake when he realised what was happening and where he was doing it. And then he'd just run away from it all, like a coward. _Poor Hibari..._Tsuna cringed miserably.

"And before you could set things right, you were kidnapped?" Yamamoto prompted, to which Tsuna just nodded again.

"That bastard Mukuro, always fucking things up for everyone else. I should just blow the evil bastard into oblivion. He doesn't give a fuck."

"A nice way to put it would be to say he retains his neutrality." Tsuna agreed, his smile strained.

Yamamoto laughed. "In other words, he's heartless!"

"Yeah," Tsuna said sadly, "I guess you could say he's-" Tsuna whipped his head up suddenly, struck with a thought. Something Bianchi had told him once...

"He's heartless.." Tsuna gasped, then he flapped his wings in shock, throwing Yamamoto's arm off as he did. "He is totally heartless!"

"Yeah, that's what he just said!" Gokudera said, surprised."Tsuna, what's wrong?"

"Did you just get freaked out by that?" Yamamoto grinned.

"I...I've just realized...something. I think – hey, do you two know how to do magic?"

Gokudera blanched. "Not much." He said,"If we did, we wouldn't be in this situation. We'd have broken the spell ages ago."

"Maybe, but maybe not." Tsuna muttered. "Mukuro uses strong magic. A LOT of strong magic...how can he do that? A lot of it is pretty evil, too..."

"Yeah, and don't we know it!"

"Which means he's totally heartless! So, what has he done with his heart?"

Gokudera and Yamamoto gave him a blank look.

"Er, Tsuna...I don't think he's heartless in the literal sense as in he's actually got no physical heart, otherwise he'd be dead...and we'd be free."

"I know that!" Tsuna blushed, but felt sure in his thoughts in a way that he rarely ever did, "there is more to the heart than the physical. I'm thinking more a long the lines of something else. The soul, maybe, or some such thing."

Gokudera and Yamamoto looked at each other. "Are you okay, Tsuna? The bird brain isn't affecting your human one, is it?"

"No, it's not that! Listen. At Hibari's kingdom they have an apprentice witch who works in the kitchens called Bianchi. Her specialty is potions, especially poisons. She was really smart and completely in love with this evil guy who used to tutor me, but that's besides the point...what's important is that whenever she was doing magic, she was mean and irritable, completely ignored your feelings, and was totally heartless.

She once told me the secret to bad magic was to have no feelings. The less feeling you put into it, the more powerful it is. So, what if Mukuro doesn't have a soul? How utterly powerful would that guy be then?"

"Wait, wait, slow down a bit Tsuna...I need to go back on you a little. Did you just say something about BIANCHI?" Gokudera gapped, eyes strangely wide with...worry? It made Tsuna nervous...

"Bianchi is the witch who told me about spells..."

"Bianchi of the Namimori kingdom? She is my sister!"

Tsuna took a look at him, the pinched nose, the half-mast eyes perfect for glaring, the wide, frowning mouth. Tsuna gasped, "NO WAY! YOU'RE the cute little brother who's my age?"

Gokudera blushed at the cute part, "Well, half-brother. I am from the Vongola kingdom, with my mother."

Something else clicked in Tsuna's head, like tripping over another memory nugget while searching through another. "Yamamoto, you too! Does your dad own a sushi shop in Vongola?"

"Tsuna, how did you know that?"

"He is great friends with my dad. My dad likes to see how he's doing, since he lost his son who is also my age – you're his son. I can't believe it! But...You don't look much like him."

"That's cause my old man is getting old!" He laughed.

"Then you two used to live in the palace?"

"When we were kids...yeah."

"That's incredible!" Tsuna exclaimed, but then became sad, "then I guess that means, that if none of this would have happened, and Mukuro hadn't cast a spell on you, then we would have grown up together."

Tsuna looked between his new friends and pondered on this. Despite being a prince, he'd never had any true friends in all his life, except for Hibari and Haru, who didn't really have a choice in the matter. But then, if Gokudera or Yamamoto had met under different circumstances, would they still be his friend?

"Well, better late than never to have known you, Tsuna. No use regretting anything that can't be helped."

"Yeah...you're right, Yamamoto. We'd better focus our energy on trying to escape the spell...I think we finally have an idea of where his power comes from..."

"Does that mean you have an idea, Tsuna?" Gokudera said excitedly.

"I...no, not really." Tsuna slumped against the rock, ruffling his back feathers. "Even if we knew for sure that he has no soul, it would be impossible to find it and give it back to him. How do you catch a soul? How would we even force it back into him so that he can't use powerful magic anymore? What does a soul even _look _like?"

"Probably see-through and grey." Yamamoto offered. "Like a ghost."

"Don't be stupid, there's no such thing as a gh-"

"ggwwwaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"GHOST!" Screeched Tsuna, flapping wildly away, feathers whirling and water splashing the retreating form of Gokudera and Yamamoto as they all tried to get away from the black and white form that had just fallen, yelling away, out of the sky.

As it hit the floor, chillingly, the yelling stopped.

"W-what the fuck is it?" Gokudera demanded from his hiding spot behind a tree. He glanced around for everyone else. "And how the fuck did you get all the way over there?"

"It startled me." Yamamoto shrugged, "and it's just a bird." He started to approach it from his distance a few meters away. "I think it's a pigeon."

"It's a puffin, you imbecile. Don't you know a puffin when you see one? Look at the beak. Does that look like a pigeon to you?"

"It's hurt..." Tsuna waddled closer, feather-ruffled and heart still drumming fast within his ribcage, "is it dead?"

"If it is, I'll roast him for you, Tsuna." Gokudera said cheerfully. "We can have a meaty lunch tonight!"

Tsuna tried to hide his repulsion of the idea. The idea of eating another bird while he was himself a bird disgusted him for some reason, and he wondered whether he'd ever eat chicken or pheasant again. He was relieved to see that the puffin was breathing, though, and therefore inedible.

"It must have fallen from the sky because of that arrow in it's wing. If we take it out, maybe it could fly again. Yamamoto, would you...?" Tsuna held up his feathers to show his disability, and Yamamoto nodded in understanding.

"Sure thing, Tsuna." He bent down and snapped the tail of the arrow off so that it would slide out smoothly. The bird twitched as he slowly pulled the splintered wood from the wound. Tsuna admired Yamamoto's gentleness as he did it. "There you go, little fella. You'll be better in no time."

Gokudera bent down and clicked his fingers so that the ground beside the bird exploded with a mini cloud of dust, which startled the bird and Tsuna himself into wakefulness, sending them both toppling beak over tail feather backwards like clowns.

"EXTREME DANGER! EXTREEEME DANGER! I THINK SOMETHING EXPLODED MY WING OFF!" Boomed a voice from the dust cloud.

"Whoa, that pigeon talks!"

"It's a fucking puffin, a PUFFIN!"

"Gokudera, you should warn me before you explode things like that!" Tsuna cried pitifully.

"I'm so sorry, Tsuna, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I didn't think it was enough to frighten you like that, and I don't give a shit about these pair, so I thought I'd wake him up somehow..."

"it's fine, Gokudera."

"I'm SO SORRY!"

"It's okay, Gokudera. I forgive you."

"I will do anything to make it up to you, I'll apologize a thousand times over, I'll carry you everywhere you need to go..."

Tsuna sighed, turned his attention elsewhere. "how are you feeling, Mr. Puffin?"

"I'll let you nest on my head if you like, I'll shave my hair as punishment!"

"I AM EXTREMELY CONFUSED!"

"Haha, Gokudera, you want to be bald? I like your octopus hair."

"Shut the fuck up, you baseball freak, this is all you're fault!"

"Gokudera, I forgive you! Please believe me! Mr. Puffin, don't be alarmed...we're friends. Does your wing still hurt?" Tsuna managed to ask.

"My wing? What did you do to it? AH! The EXTREMELY FAST arrow that shot through it has gone!"

"Yes, Yamamoto took it out for you while you were sleeping. I'm sorry that Gokudera woke you up that way, but it shocked me too. It's just how he is, you know?" Tsuna couldn't smile with his face, but he cocked and bent down his head to give the impression of a bow. "I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada, but please call me Tsuna."

The puffin looked at it's wing and back at Tsuna again. "My wing feels a LOT better now, thank-you, Sawada. I am extremely grateful for your friends healing abilities!"

"Mm, you can call me Tsuna if you like. Do you think you can still fly?"

"It stings quite a bit to move...I'll train later. I feel I must repay my debt to you all for helping me with my wound...but I have nothing on me but myself. How about a sparring match? You can join the Namimori kingdom's boxing team!"

"Ah, well...no thank-you, er...I'm sorry, but do you have a name?"

"AH! I can't believe I forgot to tell you my name! Ryohei, is my name, captain of the Namimori boxing club. I could let you join for free!"

"A bird for a team captain! Sounds like a fun sort of club you belong to." Yamamoto knelt beside them. "So puffins can talk, and they like to box?"

Gokudera rolled his eyes in frustration. "You idiot, this bird is no captain...you've got a spell put on you, haven't you?"

"That I have...but you're wrong, I am most certainly the boxing clubs captain! However, since I gained my unfortunate disability, I have had to temporarily leave the club in order to find the cure.

"By disability meaning you got turned into a bird, right?"

"By disability meaning I have no fists." The bird nodded gravely. "But I was determined to get my Extreme Right back! I flew to the Namimori castle in such for a royal magician..."

"Wait, wait...you're from Namimori?" Tsuna said, heart pounding. "But then, you must know Prince Hibari and Princess Haru!"

"Why, of corse. I am a loyal subject of their majesties! Though recently, they and the kingdom have been in mourning. When I flew to the kingdom for my cure, I was caught and almost put in a pot roast! The witch who caught me changed her mind, as I was saved by the Royal Personal Trainer, Dino. However, the witch had only bad news for me. The only way to rid this curse is for my one true love to declare their love for me, and if accepted, if people want me to become human, I will turn back! It is that simple, she said. Simple! Bad news for me, though. My one true love is boxing, how does that work?"

"That..does sound rather difficult." Tsuna nodded in sympathy, wondering if the same went for him.

"I was extremely depressed," Ryohei continued, "and was found and cared for by the lovely Princess Haru for a few days, among other, bad tempered little birds-"

_Hibird! _Tsuna's heart sang with happiness. _Ryohei's come from Hibari's bird sanctuary!_

"I tried to forget that I was a human, but the Princess treated me like one all the time. She was sad, and quite scary...and very kind, passionate..." and fires seemed to erupt in his eyes, "and EXTREMELY CUTE!"

_That's definitely Haru..._Tsuna thought, _she must think I abandoned her...no wonder she's sad._

"...I realized that I was in love with the princess! "

"WHAT!"

Gokudera and Yamamoto stared at Tsuna's outburst. They'd all been politely listening to the story so far. "I'm sorry, but...Ryohei, you're in love with Haru?" He asked weakly.

Yamamoto laughed, "Tsuna, isn't that your fiance? Even though you don't love her the way you do her brother." He grinned, as Tsuna blushed red and tried to splutter a reply...

"Fiance? Tsuna?" Ryohei the puffin stared at Tsuna for a long time. "She was never engaged to a swan. She was engaged to Prince Tsuna Sawada, of the Vongola kingdom!"

"Yes, and who do you think this is, you idiot? Haven't you worked it out yet? He told you who he was from the start, didn't he?" Gokudera gestured to Tsuna, "and you dare to fall for his fiance?"

"No, no, it's fine, Gokudera! A little surprising, but I don't mind. Really, I don't. Like you said, Yamamoto..." Tsuna looked down and blushed, and for the first time, admitted what, deep down, he'd already known as a simple truth for a very long time. "I'm...in love with Hibari."

"Ah! So you are the man I've been searching for!" Ryohei exclaimed flapping his uninjured wing wildly. "This is extremely good news! You must come with me immediately! Haru is extremely sad because of you! And Hibari has yet to stop searching to the extreme!"

"She is?" Tsuna felt sorry for Haru's worry, but couldn't help the glee that erupted in his chest, "He is?"

"IT IS THE TRUTH! We must leave immediately..." Ryohei hopped over to the forest but Gokudera grabbed him suspiciously.

"Hang on a minute, puffin-guy. Do you even know where the hell you're going?"

"To the Namimori castle at once! Then I can finally make Princess Haru happy, and become a man!"

"How does that work?" Yamamoto asked, "I thought you have to...you know. Find your true love or something?"

"The Princess is my true love! When I realized that, I knew what had to be done. I could not become a man again, not while I had such an advantage in the search for the prince."

"The advantage of flight." Gokudera supplied, and Ryohei nodded.

"When she left to visit the Vongola kingdom, while she wouldn't miss me, I left in search for Prince Tsuna. However, a stray arrow shot through my wing, but I managed to fly far, far into the sky and escape to here." He rotated full circle before cocking his head in wonder. "Where is here, exactly?"

"We don't know...exactly." Tsuna said. "This is Mukuro's castle and lake, but before we became trapped here we never even knew that this existed."

"I see. So you are EXTREMELY lost..."

"Well yes, but Ryohei...do you know the way to the Namimori castle?" Tsuna asked excitedly.

"Certanly! From the sky, I could lead you straight back to Namimori!"

"What about from down here? You won't be able to fly very far with that wing."

"I don't recognize a thing from down here..." Ryohei said, circling again, "I am extremely sorry, but I have NO IDEA WHICH WAY TO GO!"

"Ah! Okay, I'm sorry for bothering you, Mr. Ryohei!"

"Oi!" Gokudera grabbed Ryohei under his wings, "Don't yell at Tsuna like that!"

"I'm just extremely agitated! Being a bird is very incoveniant for me! No offence, Sawada."

"Ah, none taken. I'm not a real swan, after all." Tsuna thought for a moment. "Do you think...the witch you met at Namimori was probably Bianchi..." Tsuna explained, "what she said about breaking this spell...do you think the same thing would work for me?"

"I'm sure it will, Tsuna!" Gokudera said, "I would happily declare my love for you to break the spell!"

"Oh!" Tsuna didn't really have his new friend in mind, but he guessed that he did love him, in a way. He could perhaps do the same for him if it worked... "Well, I guess it's worth a try..."

"THAT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!" Ryohei roared, flapping between them all of a sudden. He glared at Gokudera with one of his beady eyes. "Is he your true love? Do you know that with all your heart?"

"What are you squaking about, you bastard? Don't freak me out like that! Shit..."

"There is more to our condition than that, octopus head! The spell isn't so easy to break. If the one who declares love for him isn't true, then Tsuna will die!"

"WHAT?" Tsuna screeched.

"Are you sure?" Yamamoto said seriously.

"That is exactly what the witch said! That, or a broken heart, and we die. I don't know the details, though. At the time, I didn't know that I would ever meet my love, let alone risk death by betrayal..."

"Oi! It wouldn't be a betrayal!"

"I know that, but loving someone as a friend and loving someone as your true love are two completely different things. Are you going to risk that? The witch said that I'd know when I'd found my way out of this body, and deep down, I do." The puffin turned and looked at the swan deeply with his beady eyes. "Is Gokudera your true love?" He said seriously.

Tsuna shook his head frantically. "As a friend, maybe...but I already have a true love, I think." Tsuna squirmed, wondering if Hibari loved him truly, like he said he did. He thought so. Or rather, he dearly hoped so...

A hand clapped him on the back. "Well then, Tsuna. We better get you to your prince, if you're ever going to get your body back again, day as well as night!"

Tsuna glowed with happiness from his friends reassuring words. "Yamamoto..."

"We'll get you to this Hibari guy, Tsuna." Gokudera said with gleeful confidence. "You'll be human again!"

"Thanks, guys." Tsuna said happily, tearfully. Had he ever had friends like these? Haru didn't count, she was family. And Hibari...

"Wait. You wouldn't happen to know the way back would you, Gokudera? Yamamoto? I mean, I remember seeing you by the lake that one time...I can't believe I only just thought of this. It can't be that far to walk! You must have made it there and back within a day!"

"It's about half a day there and back, Tsuna. It's a close call for us." Gokudera said gravely, and Yamamoto didn't miss the way he glanced his way as he said it, and smiled sadly.

"I see..." Tsuna instantly understood. Was that how Yamamoto got trapped as a statue in the first place?

"But still...half a days walk is not too far from the kingdom, and this castle is tall enough to be seen from miles and miles around. I just assumed that because I'd never seen this castle, we were ages away from home, but now that I think about it...you guys made it in one day? And Ryohei, you couldn't have flown with an arrow in your wing for very long, surely!"

"This castle must be under some sort of invisibility spell. It makes sense." Gokudera supplied.

"Which means we're not so far from home after all!" Tsuna said cheerfully. "This is great! Now all we need to do is figure out which way home is..."

Ryohei nodded sagely. "Have you got a map?"

"A map!" Tsuna exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of that! I'm so stupid!"

"I should have thought of it for you , Tsuna! It's my fault!" Gokudera wailed.

"No, no, Gokudera, it's not your fault. I don't even know where we'd get a map from..."

"I bet he has one." Yamamoto said, gesturing towards Mukuro's castle. Tsuna's eyes widened.

"No way!" He screeched, "that's..." _Impossible. Insane. Suicidal!_

"I'll get that map for you, Tsuna." Gokudera said, raising his hands in the gesture for producing his mini bombs. "No problem," and began marching off towards the castle, but Yamamoto grabbed him by the collar before he'd taken more than a few purposeful steps.

"Slow down there, Gokudera! Getting a little carried away there, aren't we? You're not going into the castle to have the fun for yourself." Yamamoto stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm coming with you."

"B-But don't we need a plan or something first?" Tsuna stammered, suddenly nervous that they were actually going to go through with it.

"Do you have one?"

"N-no, but maybe we should..."

"Okay, well while you think of your plan, we'll go and get your map, so that you can get home." Yamamoto said.

"But, guys! What if we get caught?"

"Well he's already turned us into animals and statues respectively. What more can he do?"

"He could easily kill us all!"

Gokudera huffed in response and clenched his fists. "He could try! I wouldn't let that creepy bastard get close."

"Then, I guess we have no choice. We DO need that map. But! You're not going in there while he's there. I mean, that's just... way too dangerous! Who knows what he'd do if he caught us?"

"Then what shall we do Tsuna?"

Tsuna was quiet for a moment. He'd known what was best for this from the moment he realized he'd have to get the map from the castle itself...but still...

"Ryohei, do you turn back into yourself at night?"

"No," Ryohei said, "I'm a bird day or night. Do you?"

"Yes. But Gokudera and Yamamoto turn to stone..." he looked at them thoughtfully.

"Why did you ask, Tsuna?"

"I...think I have a plan."

The three leaned in attentively, but even as he thought it, Tsuna didn't much like the idea. Once he was done, only Ryohei seemed pleased with it. Even Yamamoto didn't like it very much.

"It's all I've got." He shrugged helplessly. "So, Ryohei. Can you teach me how to fly?"

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**A/N: Had to split it into 2 parts again, it got long -_- sorry ~ **


	17. The Last Chapter

******OKAY, so needless to say I've grown up and out of this fic and it's fandom, and I'm really really sorry T-T but as a consolation prize I give you…my NOTES, in order of how I meant for it to go, but as you may be able to tell from them, this fic is just too Epic for me to write and even when I tried, my style has changed drastically since I started this back in the day…**

So I'm sorry, here's what I intended to happen, all disjointed but there.

Thank you for your support and patience, I really hate myself for doing this to some of you – but at least you get some closure with this

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**TO MAKE IT EASIER TO READ:**

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_**Italics are notes I've added**_

**[bits written between these thingies] are parts I wrote years ago when I first started the story – hence they are badly written and in a different tense.**

**Enjoy ~ x**

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**No Fear to the EXTREME (Part 2)**

As it turned out, Ryohei couldn't teach Tsuna how to fly.

Mostly because of Tsuna's no-good abilty, but also because he just didn't have the time to learn properly. All he could manage was a fair impression of a frantic chicken skimming the ground, before he panicked and splunged beak first into the lake, or the reeds, or the dirt, a tree, a rock...

"It's probably just pressure weighing you down," Yamamoto reasured the miserable Tsuna, nursing the sore spots all over his feathery body.

"But now Ryohei will be doing this blind." Tsuna said, "Ryohei said that flying was 'extremely instinctive', but I'm not a real swan, it's not my instinct to fly at all! It's completely unnatrual to me!"

"Calm down, Tsuna, he understands, don't you Ryohei?"

"Not really. I flew extremely fast without thinking-"

"He'll take a little longer to find the map, that's all." Yamamoto continued, ignoring Ryohei the way Tsuna hopelessly couldn't.

"Yes..." Tsuna said, "but the castle is huge. I'll have to...bide my time. With him."

Yamamoto looked at him with sympathy. He didn't miss the way the swan bent his head sadly as he said this. "Are you sure this is what you want to do, Tsuna?" He asked gently.

Gokudera perked up from his sulk at that, "we could always wait till he leaves by himself, and with the four of us it'd be much quicker! Heck, I could do it by myself just fine!"

But Tsuna shook his head. "Who knows when Mukuro will leave by himself? And even if we went in together, Gokudera, compared to Ryohei who is small and dark enough to blend in with the shadows, we are easily seen!

I've never seen anyone ever leave the castle, or go in." Tsuna said, the same as he had mentioned earlier, "only Mukuro and the person who is always with him."

"So the evil bastard lives virtually alone. No surprises there." Gokudera scoffed.

"If I distract them, you should be in the clear, Ryohei." Tsuna gulped. "So I'll hold his attension for as long as I can. Ryohei...be as quick as possible, okay? There will be no time to lose, so as soon as you see him with me, go."

"I will be EXTREMELY fast at getting the map!" Ryohei said, eyes bulging with his assertion.

"Thank-you..." Tsuna said, "and you better go hide. He'll be here any minute, I wouldn't want him to know of you."

"It's time." Yamamoto warned, noticing as the sun finally became a glowing ember behind the trees, and feeling the chill settle on his skin. "I guess I'll see you guys in the morning," he said, climbing onto his rock beside Gokudera. "Good luck!"

"Don't let anything happen to Tsuna, you shitty puffin!" Gokudera growled after the retreating figure of Ryohei, "I'll never forgive you, even as I roast you over a spit for breakfast!"

"Gokudera!" Tsuna wailed, "That's just-"

"Tsunayoshi ~" sang a familiar voice, sending Tsuna's heart into his throat, a chill down his feathered back. He peeked from behind the platform to the spot we'd have to swim to, and there he was, with the silent, hooded little figure who was always with him standing there like his shadow. "I see you there! Do you love me, today?" He called playfully.

Tsuna heard the angry hiss of Gokudera and the tensing of Yamamoto, and blushed with embarrassment. Well, at least he was in a good mood. That made his job of distracting him easier. But then, Mukuro was always in a good mood...

He took a deep breathe, and slowly swam over, graceful on the water as he never was on land, soft ripples arching V-shaped over the lake.

Mukuro was looking serenely smug, as always, cocking his head to him. He lay on his side in his white shirt at the edge of the lake, but never got dirty at all. He rested his head lazily on his hand, watching Tsuna with laughing eyes for a few moments. There were both still, watching each other.

"Do you think I'm pretty, Tsunayoshi?" He inquired suddenly, offering him a piece of bread like he did every night, while every night, Tsuna had stubbornly refused.

Tonight would have to be different, though, if he were to distract the wizard completely.

At first Tsuna was startled by the suddeness of the question, and if he were human he would have blushed. Shamefully, he didn't even need to consider the answer. "Yes," Tsuna said quietly, and he glided closer than he'd ever dared come before, and gently took the bread from the long, pale fingers. Mukuro's eyes widened a little in surprise, but then he swung his legs around so that he was lying on his belly, facing Tsuna fully, cupping his smugly satisfied face between his hands. "Am I handsome to you? Aren't I absolutely breath-takingly beautiful?" He was kicking his legs as a puppy would wag it's tail, and Tsuna wasn't sure how he felt about praising the man who had abducted him and turned him into a swan. He cast his eyes shyly over the youthful face. (Paler than even Hibari, whose dark hair made his cool skin look like the winter snow...) "I...like your s-skin." Tsuna said clumsily. Oh god, was this his method of flirting? What the hell was he _doing? _

"Kufufu, my skin?" Mukuro rolled elegantly onto his back, smiling like a cheshire cat, and apparently trying not to laugh too much. "Anything else you admire, my prince?"

Encouraged, Tsuna looked up again. Mukuros long pony tail at the base of his hair trailed into the lake like ink, the colour of the night, and glossy enough to reflect the stars. Which were starting to appear, Tsuna realised, seeing them in the lake. And soon, the moons light will hit him too...and the real work will begin.

For every night, once Tsuna was himself, Mukuro left him. Tonight, that would have to be different too. Tsuna did not know whether he was capable...what if he wasn't interesting enough to keep him for long? What was he saying, of corse he wasn't interesting enough! When had he ever done anything like this before? How could Tsuna possibly hold this frivoulous wizards attension?

Mukuro was frowning at his silence.

"Your hair...is...shaped like a nice...pineapple!" He spluttered, and regretted it. "I like it," he added quickly, "it's...shiney...in the moonlight. Like...the lake." The moon had finally reached him, he could feel the tingling of magic, feel the light beneath him. "Like silver," he added, before the curtain of water enveloped him completely.

Mukuro climbed slowly to his feet, so that when the transformation was done, he stood towering over Tsuna who was thigh-deep in lake water, while he himself remained impeccably dry and spotless. He held out an inviting hand to him.

Tsuna only hesitated a moment before taking it, and let himself be pulled so that he was standing before Mukuro, the closest that he'd ever come to his capturer. Even up close...his face was lovely and flawless.

"And what about my eyes," and this time, it sounded to Tsuna like a challenge. Tsuna had always been afraid to look directly into his eyes, aware that one was blue like the heavens, the over red like a devil. "Your eyes...look dangerous." Tsuna said truthfully, (and his memory flashed to icey eyes that cut through him, striking Tsuna's heart like steel to a bell, singing with a thrill right through him every time...).

Mukuro seemed pleased with the response, though. He smiled. "You're happy with me tonight, aren't you? I kept my promise to you, didn't I?"

"...Yes," Tsuna breathed after some hesitation, remembering how dangerous last night had been. In the events of the day, he had forgotten how close Yamamoto had come to truly losing his life. It made him feel sick with relief that Mukuro was at least true to his word. His heart glowed with happiness that he was able to convince him otherwise, and he was cripplingly grateful that the man had kept his word.

"You did keep your promise..." And Tsuna's smile was very genuine. So genuine, infact, and pure, that Mukuro felt something warm and delicate deep inside his cold self flutter. "Thank-you, Mukuro. I think..." and he said this so sincerly, with real feeling, "you can be a good person."

A heavy silence rang with his words, their meaning a weight on Mukuro's concience. "No, I'm a very bad person." Mukuro said thoughtfully, though without much emotion. But then his eyes flicked back to Tsuna's face. "But not so bad as you, Tsunayoshi..." And he said it in such a dangerous voice that Tsuna's blood ran cold. _He knows,_ he thought breathlessly. _He knows about Ryohei_!

"You called me a pineapple head!" Mukuro pouted, crossing his arms childishly.

Tsuna gapped at him, stunned.

"That is rich, coming from you, with a bird's nest on his head." he continued, and ruffled it with his hands. It was the first time he'd ever touched him, too, and Tsuna shivered under the strangeness of it. "Your hair is as soft as feathers!" He laughed, "Kufufufu~ oh Tsuna, a swan suits you so well! You are so pure...wouldn't you like to stay that way forever? By my side, with this wonderful castle to yourself?"

Tsuna despaired at the words. He could not bring himself to lie, not even to this man. He looked behind him at the castle, looming over the lake, a threatening stone giant asleep. "Come night or day, it seems dark and cold." Tsuna hedged, not really answering his question, and could almost feel Mukuro's surprise. "Do... you live there alone?" He probed bravely, feeling like he already knew the answer. Afterall, a part from the hooded figure, he'd never seen another soul outside the castle, nor in.

Which was why Mukuro's reply both surprised him and terrified him, and he tried hard not to let the confusion show, wishing he was a swan for once so that the wizard could not read the expression on his face.

"Oh, I have many puppets..." Mukuro said, "to guard my castle when I am away." He held up his hands, and Tsuna thought he was demonstrating the strings of a puppet master. "Do these look like hands that would cook and clean to you?" he chuckled, while Tsuna tried hard to swallow his cry at the thought of what dangers he had hastily sent Ryohei into. They should have waited afterall!

_Please be safe!_ he thought desperately, hoping so hard that he barely noticed when Mukuro slipped his cold hand into his, like a lover. When he did, Tsuna jolted with surprise, and resisted the instinctive urge to whip his hands out of the grip._ I must have faith in my friend,_ Tsuna thought. _Mukuro could be lying. Tonight, I am a distraction. _And he fortified himself, and gripped the cool, smooth hand. Mukuro smiled.

Ryohei waited until the voices of Tsuna and the wizard faded into the trees before he padded as fast as he could to the front door of the castle. The giant engraved wooden door was closed, and Ryohei had the crippling disabilty of no hands to grab it, nor strength to open it, nor fists to break through it. He was extremely stunted by the first obstacle! Fortunately, being Ryohei, he thought nothing of it – he simply half flew, half climbed up to the nearest window, then the one above that, and then above that until he reached the roof of the castle where a gutter ran along one side of it.

This giant basin slate, Tsuna had explained (incase the door was closed, which indeed it was), gathered rain water which ran straight into the castles kitchens as an extra water source. This castle was the same, Ryohei found, and sure enough if he followed the gutter there was a hole, much too big for anyone to slip into unless they were the size of a pigeon – or a puffin, of corse. So Ryohei tottered into the impenetrabe darkness of the drain leading to inside the castle kitchens, shuffling through the cramped space, until suddenley he fell straight down, for a horrorfying moment Ryohei was just free falling down a dark stone tunnel, and then he was plunged into a barrel of freezing water. Lucky for him, puffins are excellent swimmers as well as flyers, and despite the shock of the water he soon managed to clamber to the surface. Dripping wet, he shivered and jumped out of the barrel.

Ryohei only breifly paused to observe his dim surroundings. It was a fairly normal kitchen, with a huge stone unlit fire place with pots and pans and spoons hanging over the mantle. The room was large even for a castle, but Ryohei didn't have time to explore. He left the room in search for a room most likely to hold a map in it; the study, the library, perhaps Mukuro kept it in his bed chambers, maybe?

The kitchen was extremely normal compared to the rest of the castle, Ryohei discovered. The place felt freezing cold, even with the windows and doors shut. Ryohei was glad he had his feathered coat as he began to explore. He found that everything was clean, and that every room was very randomly decorated.

Some objects you would expect to see in any modern castle: some suits of armour, tapestires, portraits, huge fireplaces, instruments, display cabinets, lavish carpets and such; but mostly the objects appeared in different styles and repeatedly all around the caslte, like some crazy collection. Lots of grandfather clocks, a giant wardrobe downstairs, clothes hung up on lines and pegs in a living room, where no fire lit the fireplace, despite it being autumn. A huge, extravagant water fountain decorated with mermaids dominated one room, and a huge pile of teddy bears dominated another.

A statue of an owl over here, a life-sized stuffed deer beside it, a potted pink tree over there, some impressionist paintings on that wall, a blood red tapestry on the other, some more ornaments both on the floor and lined on shelves on the walls. Tables laden with scrolls and bottles, neat but random. Some of the bottles were sauces, others empty, and some filled with unidentified brightly coloured substances. In some places there with dolls, toys, both broken and new looking, and Ryohei found a table with dolls seated around it on extravagant but wildly mismatched chairs of different colour, size and design. It was funny to look it, but also somewhat disturbing. Ryohei even came across one empty room without so much as a lamp in it, only to happen to look up and find that the furniture was attached to the ceiling!

All these strange collections were randomly cluttered, though clean-looking, still messily, around the house, like the habitat of a madman. Or a lot of small children and two eccentric parents...

Poor Ryohei had to search the whole place carefully, straining to see in the darkened rooms and constantly listening out for movement or any signs of life. Perhaps the servants were only in bed. On the other hand, it would be easy for the guards to hide away in the shadows unseen by Ryohei until it was too late.

So he hopped from room to moonlit room as fast as he could, stopping only to ruffle through scrolls in search for the map. The stairs he half climbed, half flew up, and found that the higher level was even stranger than the lower part of the castle, and even more cluttered.

Like the room which was filled to the brim with creepy puppets, shelves upon shelves of them, with broken, cracked and tangled ones simply cast off onto the floor. Ryohei noticed an empty spot where obviously some puppets had once sat, no doubt having joined their friends in pieces and strings on the floor. He left that room quickly, and eventually came to a room which had books upon books and scrolls upon scrolls scattered everywhere. Ryohei's stomach dropped with dread at the sheer number of them on the floor and tables and shelves – there was no way he could go through every single one of them in search for a map!

But there was no helping it, Ryohei would later regret not giving it ago while he was here. He had to do it fast, too, since Prince Sawada was out doing his best, and possibly risking his life with that evil pineapple head!

Ryohei rolled his winged shoulders in preparation of a map-hunt and marched in with extreme determination.

Tsuna was unsure what to do. It was uncomfortable, his hand being held like this. His palms were slickening with nervous sweat, and unbearably hot. Had he ever held Hibari's hand like this? Had he ever held anyone's hand like this, apart from his sisters?

"If it is warmth and light you like in a home..." Mukuro said, and with a mere tilt of his head, Tsuna felt powerful magic bloom in the air around him and cover the vast sky.

Suddenly it wasn't even night time anymore, but broad daylight, pale blue sky with soft clouds and even a faint breeze. But it couldn't have been true daylight, for Tsuna was still a boy. It had been so long since he was himself at that time of the day that it felt strange to him now to see the light of the yellow sun on his skin.

The magic didn't only turn the night into day, but completely transformed where they had been standing. The lake became something of a gleaming ball room, the platform of the frog and the turtle became the biggest, more grand crystal chandelier he had ever seen, the trees into tall mangnificant arches and sparkling windows reaching up to a painted ceiling of clouds and angels. And through the windows there was the sunlight, lighting up the room.

Tsuna was stunned by the power of this man and the beauty of what he had created. He had no voice for a while, could only slowly turn on the spot and admire the design of the room. The pale floor echoed his footsteps – he felt somewhat underdressed for some reason.

"Take a look through the windows, Tsuna." Mukuro urged, and Tsuna approached one of the tall, clear windows and peered out to a garden in full bloom of a range of flowers, and there, still a lake, but with a tall, cascading waterfall and a rainbow crashing into it. It was breathtaking, and Tsuna saw birds flying overhead, giving life to the picturesque scene before him.

One of birds Tsuna spotted looked like Hibird...

...and despite the sun flooding through the windows, and being indoors, Tsuna felt himself shiver. He could still feel the cold...

"This isn't real." He affirmed to himself softly, pressing a hand to the cold window pane. "It's just an illusion."

"I can make it real." Mukuro replied from close behind him, making Tsuna jump and spin to face him. Mukuro smirked, placed a hand onto his cheek and tilted his head up a little. Tsuna was quite breathless at this. "Do you like it, Tsuna?"

"I don't understand..." Tsuna mumbled, and Mukuro smiled wider.

"What is there not to understand? Let me possess you, little prince, and I shall definitely make you very happy. I can please you like no one else..."

"No, not that – it's just...I don't believe that a bad person could create such beautiful things...you're an artist, Mukuro," Tsuna paused. "Perhaps...a bit of a crazy one, but..."

"More like a bored genius." Mukuro grinned, and immediately the spell was broken, and Tsuna sank straight through the lake that he was standing on. We realized that when he'd gone to peer out the windows he'd actually stepped off the bank, and now he was half-drowning in the lake...again. Mukuro was yet to stop chuckling to himself.

"You tricked me!" Tsuna spluttered, scrambling as best he could to the bank again.

"For a swan by day, you're not a very good swimmer, are you?" Mukuro observed with amusement. And added coyly, "not a flyer, either", to which Tsuna only glared at him, dripping wet from the side of the lake. Why did Mukuro love to torture him so much?

"I can teach you how to fly, if you like. Advice for when you have your wings again. I saw you practicing with your friends earlier." Mukuro grinned, and Tsuna didn't know whether his heart was pounding from fear that he knew what he'd been practicing for, or the sheer embarrassment of him having seen him like that. "It was entertaining, to say the least."

"You were spying on me?!" Bad enough his friends had been watching, rooting for him to succeed, observing his failure.

Ignoring him, Mukuro continued: "I, who gave you the gift of flight in the first place, could help you to reach your full potential." And at this Tsunas head snapped up. Why would Mukuro, you'd captured him and trapped him here, give him another way to escape? Surely he was smart enough to consider the possibility that Tsuna would fly away eventually with his newfound ability. What in the world could he possibly gain from helping him like that? "I'll teach you to fly," Mukuro grinned, "if you give me a kiss."

Ryohei left the library feeling extremely frustrated. There was nothing even resembling a map in that room! Mostly it was just adult stories, diagrams, spells, and scraps of pictures. He had used up a lot of time in there, too! And still no map to speak of.

As he was about to carry on down the corridor, though, he noticed a door with an orange flicking glow behind it – a candle lit room. The only lit room he'd come across so far!

He listened intently at the door frame, and at hearing nothing, not so much as breathe, he attentively opened the door a crack. The room was surprising normal looking. A study room. A lit fireplace this time, book shelves, a table and chair. The only thing out of place was a pair of string less puppets on the desk (keeping in character of the house, Ryohei supposed), and pinned to the wall in front of the that desk was...

"The map!" Ryohei realized.

Ryohei opened the door a little further and glanced around the room – there was no one there. It seemed almost too good to be true! Without any more hesitation, Ryohei hopped into the warm room and scrambled up to the chair and onto the table. He double checked the map, but there was no doubt about it. There was the familiar river running through it, and on either corner were two kingdoms, separated by forest.

Ryohei quickly scanned the map for any indication of where they currently were, but found only forest. Curiously there was something drawn over a section of the forest in the center of the map – four tiny stick figures, in fact. Ryohei lent down to examine it, and recognized the pineapple headed stick man holding a long fork as the wizard, with the name 'Mukuro' labeling its head in swirly writing. Beside that was a hooded figure labeled 'Chrome', who Ryohei supposed was the hooded figure who was always with him, even now.

Beside her, though, were two more figures, labeled 'Chikusa' and 'Ken'. Underneath the image was scrawled the words 'My Kingdom'.

"Chikusa...and Ken?" Ryohei murmured. He glanced to his side at the puppets matching the stick figure versions of them. One was blonde, the other dark haired and wearing mini glasses. Perhaps Mukuro was even lonelier than he thought, to count these puppets as people.

He took one last glance at the direction of the kingdom in relation to the doodle, then he reached up for the corner of the map with his beak.

The table wobbled violently as he stretched, knocking him off from it's suddenness. "An EXTREME EARTHQUAKE!" Ryohei roared, falling off it and taking the map down with him.

It landed over his head, and just as Ryohei recovered from his daze he suddenly heard two thumps, footsteps hitting the floor near him, and then a pair of voices erupted above him.

"UGH~AAaahh – I'm all stiff," said one, as Ryohei heard him stretch and yawn, "I wonder what poor sap just woke us up?"

"There seems to be no one here to destroy," affirmed another, this one's voice cold and refined against his companion's feral growl.

"That's a lie, someone's obviously been and left. Come on! Before we lose 'em!"

Ryohei heard the creak of the door opening and the sound of people leaving, just as suddenly as they'd appeared.

Just as Ryohei made a move to follow them out of the door to his escape, the map was suddenly lifted from his head, baring him to the enemy. He felt as naked as a newborn without the map for cover.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" A wild blonde haired man grinned, his sharp teeth bared threateningly as he held Ryohei in a firm clasp by the neck. "Looks like we got ourselves some new pillow stuffing! Right, Chikusa? And a snack, too."

Chikusa scrutinized the bird silently. "How did that bird get in here?" He muttered finally. "All the windows and doors are sealed with magic..."

"Who cares?" The man holding him took him by the legs as he stood, "oi, boil some water, will ya? We're gonna have some pigeon cake fo-AGH! THE FUCK!" Ken yelped, holding his bleeding wrist as Ryohei dropped and rolled across the floor with the map, and hop-skip-jumped right out of the room. Chikusa glared at Ken as though he was at fault. "That fucker bit me!" he protested, "did you SEE the size of that beak?"

"You made the mistake of assuming that was an ordinary bird." Chikusa explained as he left the room, Ken closely at his heels.

"Well what the fuck am I supposed to think? It's got feathers and a pissy beak, I know that for sure!"

"Perhaps if you weren't so focused on your stomach, you'd have noticed that he was carrying off with Masters map." Chikusa said, and noted with satisfaction the colour drain from Kens face. "The very map he specifically ordered us to guard."

"That little fucker, he stole the map on purpose?!"

"More than that, he spoke. He thought our transformation was an earthquake...that puffin is most likely another of Masters experiments."

"Puffin? What puffin?" Ken asked, licking his wound and searching for his retainers.

"That puffin." Chikusa pointed, and just as Ryohei tried to fly with the map in his beak, a coil of yo-yo string caught between his feathers and dragged him to the ground. Ryohei winced at the pinch and struggled against the relentless bind. "That's only going to make things worse for you." Chikusa said as he reeled him in like a fish on a hook. Ryohei thought fast, let go of the map and snapped at the string with his beak. Free, he grabbed the map with his feet this time and flew as high as he could, aiming for a window he could open from the inside.

Out of nowhere an animal roared past him, catching his tail feathers. Ryohei gritted his beak and the extreme closeness of the attack, and tried to open the window he'd reached.

"Like that's gonna work, you dumb bird!" Growled a low voice, and Ken bared sharp teeth and paced up the wall like a mighty cat. Ryohei barely had enough time to soar off before Ken reached his place by the window and hung there with one arm, clawing after him with the other. "Come back here, chicken!"

"This is EXTREMELY dangerous!" Ryohei yelled, and had to try and avoid being caught by a yo-yo string while in flight as well as an animalistic man preying on him from the sides.

He was trapped.

"I'm tired." Tsuna huffed, dismissing at Mukuro's offer. "I'm too tired to learn how to fly." He knew it was a translucent excuse, but he couldn't think of another way of getting out of kissing Mukuro without offending him. Besides, he wasn't lying. He yawned as he realized that he really was tired ~ he'd had a busy day, meeting Yamamoto, meeting Ryohei, practicing flying.

"It's easier than you think." Mukuro started at Tsuna's dismissal, but then he seemed to change his mind. "Ah, but if you need to get your beauty sleep, Tsuna, who am I to stop you?"

And as swiftly as a ninja, Tsuna found himself resting his head on the lap of his enemy, as Mukuro had moved beside him and pushed him down seemingly in one movement.

"You're going to lie on the dirty floor like that? As my pillow?" Cried Tsuna, springing back up into a sitting position. No sooner was he upright though when a magical force pulled his head back into Mukuro's waiting lap, almost giving him whiplash. "Mukuro!"

"Get some rest on me, Tsuna ~" Mukuro smiled to himself. "It's okay, I'll keep you warm and safe tonight. If the mountain won't come to Mohammid..."

"Huh?"

"Or maybe you'll realize what a good bed mate I am, and will join me soon in my own castle. It's only fair, come to think of it. I sleep out here with you, you in turn sleep in there with me..."

Perhaps the wizard was using magic, or perhaps Tsuna genuinely was more tired that he'd thought, but Tsuna felt his eyes dropping to the sound of Mukuro's rambling.

And soon, he'd drifted off to sleep.

The room Ryohei noticed was getting lighter, and he could see the wild blond hair of one of his attackers, the sleek inky colour of the other wearing glasses. He realized that the dawn would be coming soon, and that they were trying to tire him about! Ryohei was by then panting with the effort of keeping aloft with an injured wing, while clutching the map in his webbed feet, and searching for a way out. He had to get out. His friends, his princess, were waiting for him! The yo-yo once again came an inch from trapping him, as it was it went whizzing past him before returning at deadly speeds back to it's master...and every time he hid and rested on a high place even for a moment, the animal Ken sniffed him out and paced after him, and he barely escaped with all his feathers each time.

Noticing this pattern, and knowing that this had to end soon if he wanted to live, Ryohei flew frantically over to the tallest wooden statue in the room, leaning against a wall. No sooner had he landed than Ken rapidly started to ascend it, running up it with ease. "Stupid bird never learns!" Ken hissed with his claws ready to slash it's breast this time, and Ryohei braced himself against the wall, his webbed feet placed firmly on the head of the Totem pole (which was what the 'statue' actually was). He pushed when he felt the vibration of Ken climbing up it as hard as he could. Despite being a bird at the moment, Ryohei the Puffin was the strongest puffin in the kingdom, with the strength of a man still lingering in his puffin legs, so that as Ken reached the top of the pole, Ryohei had tipped it over enough that Ken also went crashing down with the pole, making the ground shake with it's impact, with Ken landing trapped beneath it.

One down, one to go.

Tsuna woke with a start to the echo of crashes, and his thoughts immediately flew to Ryohei. And he frantically looked up and saw Mukuro narrow his eyes at the castle. He silently made to get up and Tsuna blindly grabbed him and kissed him full on the lips.

Then he pulled away, Mukuro looked as surprised as Tsuna felt at himself, but then Mukuros face broke out into a grin.

"Oya?"

"I-I-I... slept on it." Tsuna spluttered, trying to explain himself legitimately, trying to keep up the distraction, "and...I guess I...would like to learn how to fly...after all."

Mukuro whispered breathily to his ear, "such things can be arranged for you, my prince." Tsuna was so occupied with trying to breathe normally through the chills that went down his spine, that he shrieked with terror to find that he was no longer standing on the bank of the lake. He unconsciously clutched onto Mukuro, eyeing the steadily retreating ground as he floated into the air.

The odd weightlessness of being a bird on the lake was nothing compared to this – like being submerged in water almost – steadily sinking up towards the stars. Body-less and free, made of nothing but dust and air.

Mukuro ignored him. "Being able to fly for you should be like a duck being able to swim, like a wizard casting a spell, like..." and Mukuro grinned, "two lovers making love."

And this time Tsuna really did blush from embarrassment.

Mukuro leaned in close enough to feel the heat rolling of his body, to smell the perfumes and hint of mint on his clothes, as though revealing a secret to a lover. "The secret to being able to fly is simply this: just do it. Before you realize that you're defying the laws of gravity."

"I-I don't-"

"Try flying in the morning. My gift to you for being so good to me this evening."

And with that, he disappeared.

Tsuna could only hope that Ryohei had made it out in time.

Ryohei didn't have time to celebrate his triumph over Ken. Chikusa took that chance while Ryohei was distracted to try and capture him. Ryohei didn't have a moment to breathe as he was abruptly hailed with a succession of deadly spinning Yo-yos at his tail as he flew, but Ryohei had a destination this time. He flew as fast as he could, feeling rather than seeing the yo-yo's skim his trail, and saw the glass window he was aiming for. Chikusa seemed to notice too. "It's sealed." Chikusa said as he attacked, "you can't open it from the inside." Even though he said that, the puffin paused as if to check, and Chikusa took his chance. He sent a volley of all ten of his yo-yos at that one spot at lightning speed, with perfect aim...

...right _through _the window, which shattered into oblivion as the Yo-yo attack went through it. Ryohei took his chance, and while yelling "DODGED TO THE EXTREME!" he vanished through the shattered window and into the chilly morning air.

* * *

**CHAPTER? MUKURO IS A PRISONER? HUH?  
**

_Ryouhei meets with Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto but their little celebration is interrupted by Ken and Chikasu, who try to stop them from escaping._

Just when Ken and Chikasu are about to strike a fateful blow to the unguarded swan-form Tsuna, they stop suddenley with magic. Everyone turns to stare at the cloaked figure holding K and C locked in their attack – it's Chrome.

Chrome wishes to help them escape. She has seen how happy Mukuro is around Tsuna, how more like his old self he becomes, and so promises to help them, only with the condition that Tsuna would come back and free Mukuro from his own prison.

_Everyone is confused but Tsuna, who understands what she means and promises to return, as soon as he becomes a prince again. He can do more as a boy than as a swan, after all._

_Chrome reveals that it's easy to get back to the kingdom, but only when you already know the way. Just a glance at the map would have been enough._

Bent over the map, she shows them the route. "Now that you've seen it, try looking over the treetops, Tsuna."

_He manages to fly for the first time, after Mukuro's guidance. _

[And with the feeling of flight, Tsuna remembered the way Hibari had appeared before him on the dance floor, had kissed him without warning. He hadn't hesitated, not even for a moment. "Just do it", Mukuro had said. "before you realise that you're defying the laws of gravity." Is that what it had been for Hibari?]

…_and sure enough, Tsuna can finally see the castle, a half days walk away._

"_We have no time to lose." Chrome says, "we'll talk on the way. If we're not back by moonlight, your friends will turn to stone."_

_So they set off._

[After the initial hushed debates over whether they should really trust Chrome, the journey through the forest was mostly done in weary silence. Something told Tsuna that she was being honest, and genuinely wanted to help them, if only as a way of helping her master. Ryohei was cautious, Gokudera was downright suspicious, and Yamamoto seemed oblivious.

"I didn't have time to ask you, but how was it with Mukuro?" Yamamoto asked after a while.

"It was..." thrilling. Enchanting, really...he was..."nice." Tsuna finished lamely. "But still scary" he added truthfully, to negate the compliment he'd just offered the guy everyone around him but their guide hated. ]

**CHAPTER? THE CASTLE  
**

_They arrive at the castle past midday, so they have to hurry in order to get back to the lake in time for sunset. Only Yamamoto and Gokudera dare leave the trees – Tsuna is just a swan after all and Chrome is a known criminal…(Ryouhei flies ahead to see Haru again, who he's fallen in love with)._

_Upon getting close, Hibari sees Yamamoto and Gokudera coming not from the main road, but emerging from the enchanted forest and onto the castle grounds._  
_  
He immediately bites them to death for trespassing, but then remembers a time on the river seeing a similar pair emerging from the trees – Tsuna saw them too…so he ends up not killing them but only knocking them both unconscious._

Haru and Kyoko (she's visiting) take care of them, and are the first people they see when they wake up.

_Ryohei is in Haru's arms, she was delighted to see her puffin again._

["Hibari is one scary dude – much scarier than Mukuro, huh." Yamamoto chuckled, to which Hibari's eyes widened. Hibari whirled around and grabbed Yamamoto by the collar.

"What do you know about Mukuro?" He growled, a threatening inch from Yamamoto's face.

"Hey, back off you crazy bastard!" Gokudera shouts, angry at seeing Yamamoto manhandled as such.

"Please!" said a voice suddenly, and they turned to see princess Kyoko with her hands clasped as if in prayer, her eyes wide. "Please…tell us about Mukuro. He has taken someone very dear to us…"

Yamamoto was really taken aback for a minute, she was so pretty. He wondered if Tsuna looked much like this sister (since he'd only ever met Tsuna in his swan form).

He smiled in sympathy, and slowly removed Hibaris grip on his shirt. He stood up slowly, facing the royalties.

"Come with us, we'll take you to Tsuna."

At the mention of the name they most longed for the princesses and the prince gaped in shock. Hibari made a small movement to grab him again…

"You know where Tsuna is?" Haru gasped shrilly, to which Yamamoto couldn't suppress a laugh.

"Sure," he said, "he's watching over us right now, like a little angel."]

_Their faces fall, thinking that Yamamoto was telling them that Tsuna was dead after all. Getting their hopes up like that and then saying something so carelessly… Hibari gets angry._

"Unforgivable" he says quietly, and this time he throws his tonfa with enough force and precision to kill Yamamoto instantly, but Yamamoto's instincts allow him to dodge it.

_Yamamoto and Gokudera run from the castle and straight into the shadows of the trees where Tsuna the swan and Chrome are waiting for them. _

_They arrive at the meeting place panting out of breathe. "It didn't work, he's not coming." Gokudera is about to say, but is interrupted by Tsuna who exclaims "you did it! He's here!"_

_Gokudera turns to see Hibari had run out after them, and was standing there in stunned silence, staring at them all._

_Then he pulls out his bow and arrow and shoots straight at Tsuna._

**CHAPTER? THE MOONLIT LAKE**

_Hibari sees the swan and remembers the King's dying words – that his attacker and Tsuna's abducter was 'not what they seem'._

_Not just that, but the group he is looking at is just as the king had said: two men (goku and yama), one animal (tsuna the swan) and a women (chrome)._

_Yamamoto and Gokudera see where he's aiming and try to stop him, but he's like one possessed._

Gokudera throws bombs to try and stop him and almost kills poor tsuna the swan!

_Hibari gives chase through the forest._

Ryouhei gives tsuna advice to fly up towards the sun and use its light to blind hibari, but then the sun sets. ah, hibari is gone! No wait, there! SHIT! They carry on flying.

_Hibari finds Tsuna's cloak when he nears the clearing (he is closer to Mukuros castle than he has ever been before), and gets enraged, certain now that he is going the right way. His knuckles turn white with the force he grips the material before he sets off double the speed, determined more than ever. They definitely have Tsuna. There is no questions about it now..._

_It is growing dark, it is nightfall already. _

_Upon reaching the lake, Hibari sees the swan alone on the water. He aims his arrow at the heart of the bird, ready for a quick kill._

He is blinded by a sudden light and the arrow flies off harmlessly into the night.

When he next opens his eyes, with a new arrow already cocked, he is shocked to see Tsuna standing there, his Tsuna, alive and well.

**Listen to Yiruma's 'Moonlight' (on youtube) for the transformation scene music soundtrack I had in mind.**

_Tsuna is the same as he has always been, and terrified that Hibari tried to shoot at him. He vaguely sees gokudera and yamamoto dive into the lake a moment before the moon shies on them – tsuna is relieved! it would have been impossible to carry them in as statues._

_While thinking this, Hibari embraces and kisses him roughly, and Tsuna grips onto his front tightly. They both forget where they are for a moment and even trip into the lake, still holding each other._

_When Hibari pulls away Tsuna still has his eyes closed and lips puckered for more._

Hibari hopes it was better than the first – to which Tsuna reminds Hibari that the time of the dance was not technically their first kiss. Hibari looks confused and then remembers the drowning incident distastefully – he'd thought Kyoko has drowned, any kiss was better than that one…

...Tsuna shakes his head blushing, not counting that as a kiss, but recalling instead the time when Hibari was feverish, and had grabbed Tsuna in his sleep and kissed him quite deeply. The kiss they had just shared felt a lot like that one. Hibari wished he had been a wake for that, or that he could at least remember such a good dream. Though, he has had many others since then.

_So, after chatting, Tsuna explains his predicament. _

_He tells him that if he were to leave the lake then he would only continue to be a swan always. At first hibari contemplates this – he really doesn't care – they can still make love after all. But only in this lake? Ah. Okay then. How to break the spell?_

_At first tsuna really doesn't want to tell him. it's incredibly embarrassing!_

[ "You have to...to...make a v-vow..."

"i can do that. What sort of vow?"

"I think it will have to be Haru. you've got to make it to the whole world, Hibari! thats a big thing!"

"tell me!"

"hee! A vow of true love to me!" Tsuna cringes and almost dies with embarrassment.

Hibari looks at him blankly. That bastard mukuro screwing with them.

"Its the only way to break the spell..." Tsuna adds.

"Would she have to mean it?"

"definately! If she doesn't mean it...then i will die!"

"...then, she will make no vow."

"Eh?! But! I cant stay a swan forever! that's evil, Hibari! You really hate me?"

"She will make no vow, tsunayoshi." He kisses him. "I will make a vow of true love before the whole kingdom, to you and only you, Tsuna. You will not die."]

_Mukuro can be heard calling for them._

_Hibari's instinct is to go for the kill, but Tsuna quickly reasons with him – if he attacks him, then they won't be able to break the spell. Hibari makes a new plan: Break the spell, then kill him_.

_So they plan to meet tomorrow night at what was going to be the decision for Kyoko and Hibari's marriage. (The kingdom had decided)._

_Hibari returns to the castle late at night – everyone is sick with worry, the whole castle is in a frenzy, Dino grabs him and hugs him and almost punches him for making him worry. He'd disappeared into the forest after all, it was already nightfall…_

Hibari breaks through their fussing with the shocking announcement:

_He has found himself a new bride, to be announced tomorrow!_

Queen Nana is very happy, and prepares a huge party – everyone in the kingdom is invited. They are extremely excited to be meeting the girl who captured hibaris cold heart!

_haru and kyoko want to find out who it is – but hibari wont tell. how strange_

**CHAPTER ? THE VOW**

_That night on the lake Tsuna is beside himself with excitement, which is frozen when he sees Mukuro emerging from the trees. At first he acts normal, but then Mukuro reveals that he heard everything. Of course he did, he comes to the lake every night to visit Tsuna and see him transform – he was there the whole time._

Tsuna feels sick and panics, but there is nothing he can do. Mukuro immediately magic's Tsuna into his castle outside dungeon, the one with lake water filling it.

_Mukuro that night then plots with Chrome in his room._

_Mukuro's fucked-up thought process:_

He wants Tsunas heart,  
but it's impossible to steal Tsuna's heart, because it's already been stolen by Prince Hibari a long time ago...  
mukuro realized this upon seeing them on the lake.  
this is a very delicate situation. how to steal tsunas heart back from Hibari? hmmm...

_as long as hibari is alive mukuro doesn't stand a chance. _

_he'll have to break the trust between them.  
if tsuna cannot trust hibari anymore, then he'll demand his heart back – right? that's how these things work...suddenley mukuros face breaks into a huge smile. _

"_chrome, my love...I have an idea."_

_Mukuro plans to put his servant Chrome as an illusion and send her in tsuna's place. he will make a vow to the wrong person! _

_Even if by chance Tsuna dies – better he be dead than belong to anyone else but Mukuro._

_(What Mukuro fails to understand is that instead of returning Tsuna's heart back to him, Hibari would in fact be breaking it with his actions. Thus, neither of them can have Tsuna if Hibari can't have him...but he will learn that soon enough. )_

_That night, Ken and Chikusa follow Chrome, and sneak into the dungeon and admit to Tsuna that they too want Tsuna to go and come back. They explain they're side of the story:_

["Mukuro used to be such an interesting guy. Obsessed with the ultimate annihilation of the Vongola kingdom and it's king, sure, but hey, who's perfect?"

" Such intense feelings of hatred, Tsuna...you must understand that they can only come from once having intense feelings of love for something else."

"Yeah yeah, whatever shrimp. Anyway, one day this creepy girl shows up, and it's like he's gone mad or something. He doesn't make any sense..."

Chikusa lifted the map on the table. "It's ironic, but to get the power he needed for destruction, he did something that cost him his desire to destroy in the first place. With no Heart, one loses those deep feelings that make one human in the first place."

"Mukuro never gets angry, because he's not afraid of anything." Chikusa says.

"He is never excited for something, or passionate about anything..." Ken adds.

"And if you cannot bring yourself to love something, you can't hate anything..."

"He is never very sad or upset for long, because he doesn't expect anything, or really want something. Only superfiscially" Chikusa added, "except for you, Tsuna."

"But even if he had you, he wouldn't be happy." Chrome said sadly, gently placing a hand on Tsuna's feathery head. "Mukuro is hollow."

Tsuna couldn't imagine living like that. He was scared all the time, and was easily upset...how can someone feel absolutely nothing? What sort of life was that?

"But why me? If he's never really wanted anything for real, why does he want me so much?"

"He want's you, Tsuna, because he is a powerful wizard, and he knows in his unconcious mind, even if he isn't aware of it, that somehow, you will be the one who makes him happy."

"But you just said he could never be happy, even if I were to-"

"No, that wouldn't please him, not truly. I mean, you are the one who has the power to let him be happy again. You have the power to make him feel. The power to take his power away."

"But...that's! I don't have that sort of power! I'm not a magic user at all!"

"But you do have your own type of magic, don't you, Tsuna? You see things. Things that nobody else can see in a person. Most remarkably and uniquely, you actually look for it...and of coarse, you find it."

"Do you know what I have to do, Chrome?"

Chrome bent her head into the shadow of her hood. "I do."

"Will you tell me?"

"I can't." She stood up and walked away slowly, "the spell we're under forbids us from telling anybody the secret to Mukuro's power. All I can do is tell you all that I can, and pray that you can figure it out on your own."]

_Tsuna discovers that chrome and Mukuro used to be one person, that SHE was his heart and soul. In order to become more powerful he seperated her from his body and put her in the body of a dying girl, so that that girl has all of Mukuro's goodness in her. She is his heart. She is his soul. And she needs to be close by for Mukuro to live..._

_But as a price Mukuro can never feel fulfilled or truelly happy, and is always despretely searching for something, so much so that he no longer thinks about ruling over anything or trying to help people. He does not know that what it is he is looking for is right beside him in chrome, and instead searches for it in the beauty and goodness in others. _

_He remebers that he wanted the super powers in the first place for revenge, but upon loosing his soul he no longer had any passions like that, only whims. _

_So when Mukuro comes across pretty things he tries to keep them. Tsuna is just a reminder of the promise for revenge he once made, and keeps him alive for his beauty, and for this innate feeling of wanting to be loved. _

_Though he has lost some of his sanity and humanity, Mukuro is still now guilt-free and playful as a child, honest and uncaring._

_The night turns to day, the day of the party._

_Gokudera and Yamamoto are confused – where is Tsuna?_

They overhear him calling them and they find out he's in the dungeon. Chikusa and Ken are enchanted puppets, so can't break Tsuna out of jail, and Chrome has already left to do Mukuros bidding.

_Gokudera blows up the wall of the dungeon to free Tsuna,_

_Tsuna immediately flies of as a swan to the palace..._

_**CHAPTER? THE VOW PART 2**_

_At the palace the Chrome-turned-Tsuna arrives to a silent hall, everyone shocked when they see who it is. When he goes to Hibaris side, everyone is even more stunned. He makes the vow to Chrome, and kisses her..._

_and outside Tsuna can see it all through the windows, and is suddenley hit, as though his heart is breaking...the spell is killing him..._

_A voice rings out in the hall of gathered kingdom:"kufufufu, poor prince Hibari...fallen for the wrong twin! And worse, made the vow to the wrong person altogether!_

"_Come to me, my dearest Chrome. You have done well." Hibari glances at 'Tsuna', staring at Mukuro who has just strolled into the hall. This 'tsuna' stares back at Mukuro with a cute wide eyed expression, but then Hibari can tell something is wrong - it curls into a cute little smile. "Yes, Mukuro-sama." Then Tsuna turns into Chrome, who runs into Mukuros arms. _

["If i can't have him, then no one will, and least of all you." Mukuro starts to laugh, "and now, by your words, the little prince shall die!"

dino points up , "What's that?"  
Nana: "a swan?! what is it doing?"

and hibari without pause runs after it.

Tsuna taps feebily a few times, then sees Hibari running toward him. "Run fast, Prince Hibari – time is ticking, he's fading fast!"

Tsuna wants to say good bye and thank you to his friends at least..they have done so much for him...he flies all the way to the lake, then suddenley drops into the lake. Yamamoto and Gokudera go to dive in after him but Hibari is already diving over them towards him. Gokudera is cursing wtf did they do to him, and Yamamoto is just worried – something doesn't feel right.

When Tsuna is pulled out of the lake he is a human boy, and he is obviously dying, much to their horror. Before he can finish what he wants to say he loses consciousness.

and Mukuro is clapping behind him. "Alas, dear sweet Tsunayoshi. I knew him well."

Hibari brings up his tonfas. he is beyond threats and harmless word games...he will_ kill_ him.]

**CHAPTER ? THE DEATH MATCH**

_Yamamoto and Gokudera go ahead with Tsunas plan that he told them before, that the only way to weaken and get at Mukuro was to separate him from Chrome, who has Mukuro's heart for herself._

_Hibari just fights Mukuro while Yamamoto and Gokudera run away with Chrome, and when she's far enough the Mukuro gets weak and then finally falls unconscious and dying._

_Battle is over, and Chrome goes over to Hibari who is holding the dying Tsuna. 'If he's the one to do it, it will work', she says, and uses her limited powers of illusion to get Tsuna's heart beating like normal. It won't last long, though, and it's very weak._

Chrome confesses that she truely doesn't know what to do...

_Tsuna fights for breathe as he tells her._

["Give him back his heart so that he might love and grow up and understand..."

Chrome: "I don't know how!"

"It will be okay. Just…" She nods in understanding, and lets the beating heart, Mukuros warm and living soul, out of her body. Tsuna holds the flame very carefully, warm and pulsing in his hand. Hibari carries Tsuna over to Mukuro and he carefully pushes it into his chest. ]

_Mukuro instantly revives, crying but full of life, feeling heavy and very strange. Upon seeing Chrome he demands that she wake up, and wake up she does, and she becomes the same as before, but now she's not trapped at Mukuros side, and he has most his powers._

Tsuna has stopped breathing, and Hibari is going crazy, grabbing Mukuro, demanding he does something - Mukuro claims that he, as a wizard, has to give him to kiss of life.

Hibari begrudgingly lets him, but it doesn't work. Hibari tonfas him for being tricked, (Mukuro: it was worth it!) and then Hibari kisses him himself, and there's a bright light and Tsuna wakes up fully, the colour returning, as spritely as ever.

_And that's the end of that._

_Gokudera and Yamamoto become part of the Vongola kingdom – the kings guardians_

Mukuro tells them how to lift the spell – a kiss from your true love!

Gokudera wonders who that could be:  
[

Gokudera hadn't really thought about it yet...but did he even have anyone in his life who he could call his true love? He'd spent literally most of his life with Yamamoto. Did he even know any girls apart from his sister and mother?]  
_Then Yamamoto grabs him by either side of his cheeks, calls him an idiot and kisses him deeply. They immediately are shrouded in light and voila!_

Ryohei and Haru too…

_Everyone lives happily ever after :)_

_**Epilogue: It's your day – Yiruma - a happy contented ending song, for sure. **_

_AS always, Hibari is very selfish, and both kyoko and haru begin to hate him for it. "We have just got our brother back, and you won't let him alone!" But tsuna is very busy, always working and being a king, and loves hibaris selfishness most of all._

_tsuna is easily embarrassed over public displays of affection, and can barely say 'iloveyou' to hibari, though he absolutely does. oddly enough, it is hibari who can honestly say i love you without reacting at all. and when the mood was right and they were alone, tsuna could look into hibaris eyes as he said it, and he would say those words so meaningfully..._

_in the end Tsuna is king of Vongola. Before he never wanted to be king, but Hibari convinces him that he is even better suited than Hibari himself. Haru becomes queen of her own country – for everyone in the kingdom loves her, and they will live happily and loyaly to the kingdom. Hibari chooses to go to the Vonolga kingdom as a general. Should upset start, hibari brings order. Tsuna was suited for a king after all. _

_and to this very day, Tsuna remains as foolishly compassionate as ever, and the result of this is devotion. Everywhere he goes people flock to him. The women in the street call to him, smile. The children run up to him, throw balls to him, beg him to come play. The men nod, tip hats, wave greetings, and Tsuna calls, throws, waves back while Hibari's eyes search the crowd for insurgents and murderers.  
_

_In the end, Hibari and Tsuna are feeling awkward and are in separate bedrooms in order to let Tsuna recover. They do not want to disrupt the kingdom just yet – one step at a time._

Then in the night Tsuna wakes up to see Hibari sleeping next to him. He snuggles into his arms and Hibari is very content. –flashback to their childhood!-

Dino spots them in the morning as he quietly opens the door, wondering why Tsuna isn't awake yet...

"_Ah, what a treat!" ^^ -beam-. _

_The End._


End file.
